Learning to Survive
by Luna's Falling Tears
Summary: Mikan Sakura, a 16 year old princess of the Sakura Kingdom. She has grown up surrounded by a war between her Kingdom and the Koizumi Kingdom. What will happen when the Koizumi's invade? Who are the 3 people that rescue her?...NxM
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, Luna here!**

**This is my first Fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 1: **

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**Screaming.

Crying.

That's all I heard. I ran as fast as my feet would carry me – I needed to get away from there.

A gunshot sounded behind me. I screamed when I heard footsteps running closely behind.

I tripped over an exposed root and closed my eyes waiting for what was to come.

_*The morning before * _

I whistled a happy tune to myself as I worked in the garden behind the castle my parents had left for me. Today was the ten-year anniversary of their death.

My parents had been coming back home from a High Council briefing about the progress of the war between our Sakura Kingdom, and the Koizumi Kingdom. The Council had been deciding tactics to prevent the Koizumi's from breaching our borders. That's when scouts from the Koizumi Kingdom had attacked killing everyone in sight, including my parents. My Jii- chan had then took over the reign of the throne and remarried to his wife, Lucy. I'm expected to be able to take the throne away from him in a couple years, seeing as how I am the only heir.

That had happened when I was 6– 10 years ago.

Right now my Jii- chan was in a meeting with the High Council trying to make a better plan of attack against the Koizumi's. A couple years ago they had put together a group of highly skilled Alice users and trained them in combat to help protect us from the soldiers that lay just behind the trees lining the kingdom.

Alice.

That's what this whole war is about – seeing who would come out superior to the rest.

I don't have an Alice, well not that I know of any way. My mom, Yuka, had a bunch of different Alice's. She had been one of the most powerful Alice users in the whole Sakura Kingdom aside from my dad. My dad, Izumi, had the most powerful nullification Alice ever. Plus he was trained in Martial Arts and was the perfect leader.

My Jii-chan says I'll probably be really special just like they were and have amazing Alice's. I doubt that I will – I'm 16 and still don't even have a hint of power inside me. The Royal Doctors all agree with Jii-chan, they say my body is still getting over the death of my parents, and my Alice will activate when I need it most, Or something.

I reached down pulling a weed out that had been blocking the growth of a rose.

"Mikan-hime!" I stood up at the sound of one of the maids calling for me.

"Back here!" I called. My angelic voice echoing off the stone walls.

The maid Tarisha rounded the corner, her fair skin sparkled with sweat from running and her light green eyes downcast.

She bowed "Yes Tarisha?"

"Mikan-hime, the master wishes to speak with you" she replied.

Wiping my dirty hands on my kimono I thanked Tarisha and ran off to the castle. I pulled my hair band out, letting lose my waist length chestnut hair. It blew in the breeze behind me.

I entered the throne room and bowed in curtsy to Jii-chan and the Queen.

"Mi-chan," he called out, his warm tone surrounding me – bringing with it the happiness he always had in him.

"I hope you are well. Have you finished with the preparations for tonight?"

"Yes, Jii-chan" I answered looking into his eyes seeing my bright hazel orbs reflected back at me, "I have gathered all the roses and other flowers you will need tonight for the ceremony "

"Splendid!" Lucy Sang, "Good job, dear. I hope to see what wonderful things you are going to have done in the temple!"

I smiled, nodding my head.

Jii-chan smiled at me "How is the garden looking?"

"It's going really good. The flowers have all bloomed and they smell extremely sweet at night," I replied. This garden had belonged to my Mother and Father, they had personally seen to it that it was properly weeded and the flowers were always watered. "I wish for you to come see it later on, after the ceremony maybe?"

"That would be perfect. We could relax and eat those wonderful cookies that Lucy here makes so well" his laugh lines crinkled as his smile stretched further up his face.

"Yes, I will have to go prepare right away. Those cookies are very difficult to make you know!" Lucy chirped. She got up and left the room, her beautiful kimono trailing behind.

I giggled. Lucy's cookies never get cooked right—they always end up burnt. One of the maids would have to clean up her mess and make some more… edible tasting ones. Yet for some reason she loves to make them regardless.

Jii-chan clearing his throat brought me back to look at his face.

"Jii-chan?"

"Mi-chan, the maids have made you something for tonight. They will help you get ready as well, you may go now"

I curtsied again and turned to take my leave.

"You have become a very beautiful young lady, Mikan. You look more like your mother every day" he called out as I left the room.

I walked into my room and headed to the bath I had asked Tarisha to get ready for me.

I slipped off my kimono, then took a tentative step into the hot water. I poured the strawberry scented body oil onto me and found myself falling asleep.

_*Flash back *_

_I looked around everywhere for Shi-chan. my beloved cat that my Mother had gave me as a birthday gift-I would lose my extra cookies for losing him outside! I ran down to the brook at the bottom of the hill._

"_Shi-chan!" I yelled._

_No answer._

"_Shiiiii- chaaaaann!" I yelled again. _

_I fell down onto a rock and scraped my knee. I brought my knees up to my face and start to cry._

"_Meow" _

_I sniffled. "Shi-chan?" I looked up._

"_Meow"_

_In front of me sat my cat, staring at me with her big yellow eyes._

_I gasped and grabbed her bringing her to my chest._

_Somebody cleared their throat, it was a young girl about my age with raven locks and she was staring at me with deep amethyst orbs._

"_That will be 100 rabbits," she said her face completely stoic._

_I stared at her, completely dumbfounded._

"_The finders fee," she continued._

"_Yo- you found Shi-chan!" I jumped up and tried to give her a hug._

_**Baka Baka Baka!**_

_I fell back and landed on my butt._

"_Owwww" I rubbed my now bruised head, "what was that for!"_

"_Baka gun, invention #01393. Used for shooting Baka's" She replied coldly._

_I stared at her. She stared back._

"_Your Mikan, right?" She asked me. She offered me a hand and I gladly accepted._

"_Yup! Mikan Sakura, that would be me" I giggled._

"_Your Parents have been looking for you, you're late for dinner" Then she turned and started to walk away._

"_Wait!" I ran up beside her, holding Shi-chan in my arms, "What's your name?"_

_She looked at me "Hotaru Imai,"_

_My face made a big "O" shape. "You're the guests my Parents were having over! Hey, lets be friends" I asked running to catch up with her._

"_Sure," she replied, then gave me a small smile. " That will be 500 rabbits"_

"_What!" I yelled sprinting to catch up with her as she jumped on some floating duck car and zoomed off towards the castle._

_* End of Flash back *_

Hotaru.

She was my best friend. The only one I could get close to who wasn't just using me.

Her and her family had gone missing 2 years ago. No one had known where they had went, people had suspected they were spies for the Koizumi's the whole time they spent living in the Sakura Kingdom. Others had thought they had run off looking for a better place to live, one that didn't risk their lives. But I knew Hotaru—she wouldn't have left unless it was a good reason. She's not like that, she helps people even though she acts very cold and has a stoic expression. I think she was kidnapped along with her family when the Koizumi's had learned that they were staying here.

I will definitely find a way to save her and her family.

A knock on the door forced me to stop thinking about Hotaru.

"Mikan-hime," called a muffled voice. "Its almost time for the ceremony, we have to get you dressed"

"Be right out" I dried my self off, and put on my favorite polka dotted bra and panties. I walked out of the bathroom and entered my closet where the three maids waited for me.

There was Ada, a 20 something year old with long red hair, and striking green eyes. She had been working here at the Palace since she was 12 because her parents too were killed in an attack from the Koizumi's. She was wearing a knee length kimono, with beading up the sides.

The next was Rene, Her kimono was a deep blue to match her big orbs and she was quite fair skinned. Her Blonde hair was pulled up into a loose bun.

Last there was Tarisha, who had changed into a green kimono to match her eyes, and her caramel hair was tied in beautiful braids that trailed down her back.

They were all holding a light pink kimono that looked like it would reach about just under my knees, it had beautiful beading sewed all along the silk lining – it would sparkle every time it caught the light. They wrapped me in side the kimono and had it fitted so that it would flatter my figure perfectly.

I twirled around in it to take a better look "This is so beautiful!" I laughed as the beads glimmered and sparkled. "Who made this kimono, I must remember to thank them" I turned to look at the maids.

Rene giggled. "Actually, Mikan-hime"

"We were the ones who made it" Finished Ada.

I gasped. "But when could you have the time to…?" I asked breathlessly. They were extremely talented, I should tell Jii-chan about this so he can offer them a part time job with sewing me more kimonos and dresses.

"We all took turns sewing it when we weren't busy or we didn't have a shift. We know your favorite color is pink so we had to put that into this, and the sparkling beads will help to make you shine much more beautifully for tonight!" Tarisha answered with a small grin on her face.

"Mikan-hime," Rene called.

I turned around to look at her, my face still in awe.

"We all have Alice's for sewing and beading"

My eyes went wide. "What, really?" I turned towards Ada and Tarisha, who nodded their heads in a silent yes.

"Mikan-hime, sit down here" Ada pointed to a makeup table.

"We still need to do your hair and makeup" Tarisha pointed out.

Each of them grabbed a tool and started working away, Ada and Rene were curling my hair and they added beads like the ones from the kimono on to the side of my head to add to the beautiful waves that reached down to my waist spiraling at the ends.

Tarisha swiped black eyeliner around my hazel orbs to make them pop, and a light silver eyeshadow to add even more sparkle. When she finished with that she added a light pink lipstick over my lips.

"Finished!" They called at the same time. They stood back to examine each others work.

They high fived and did a little victory dance. " Beautiful!"

I stood up and twirled again. This time though, I really felt like a beautiful princess. I giggled and gave the three maids hugs.

I was so ready for the ceremony for tonight! I grabbed the multicolored roses off the table, carrying them downstairs as I hummed a lullaby my dad used to sing to me before bed.

I walked down the aisle towards the huge temple situated on the top of the hill—It sat right beside a huge Sakura tree, which loomed over top of us. As I passed, the villagers stopped talking and turned their attention to me as I walked on by. About half way up to the hill, I started to let my mind wonder to times when my Mother and Father would take me up here as a kid. The view was amazing you could see past the castle down to the village, and the huge forest that lined the border.

"Mi-chan" Jii-chan called me.

I looked up to see my Jii-chan standing beside Lucy. They were standing in front of the temple entrance.

I walked up beside them and stood to the right of Lucy.

The horn blew, signaling that the ceremony had begun.

Jii-chan cleared his throat, and activated one of his Alice's. The Alice of Speech—he could project his voice to reach even the back of the crowd.

"Welcome, everyone!" He called. Everyone went silent and listened to him.

"We are here today to have a ceremony for the anniversary of the death of Queen Yuka and King Izumi – and the deaths of all that were lost that terrible day 10 years ago."

The Guardians had already took up positions lining the aisles and there were about three more guardians behind us. It was just standard procedure but it still creeped me out, even though we were safe inside here, that didn't mean it was safe outside the border.

"Mikan, in honor of your late parents, please step inside the temple and hand over your offering to the gods!" Jii-chan finished, giving me my cue to go.

I stepped off the platform and headed towards the temple. There was a low hum of excitement passing over me, I reached the temple door and pushed.

I placed my flowers onto the ground, and started my chant.

"Oh gods, hear thee daughter ask. Take of these offerings and spread them above! Hold thy stem and taste thy scent, give peace to thy souls of Yuka and Izumi. Take thy innocent and grant them safety above. Grant thee eternal rest of happiness, surrounded by each other." I raised my arms up, "Take thee offering with thy, as they sleep in each others arms. Let this night be finished with our offerings and let this night pass by!" I dropped my hands and kneeled above the grave of my Mother and Father.

"Hold thy hands in this pray, and kiss thee forehead in eternal blessing" I finished.

I returned back to the platform as my Jii-chan activated his Alice once more and started the conclusion of the ceremony.

"Now we shall all hold hands and we will pray…" Jii-chan started off.

Lucy started the pray, 'Hold thy up, and grant us rest. Give us thee power to protect, keep thy strong. This is our blessing to hold true, keep us alive and true. Hold thy up, and'—

She was cut off by screaming. I raised my head sharply, and took a sharp inhale of breathe.

Fire was spreading all throughout the villages quickly running up the hill. Someone screamed again. I turned my head towards that direction and what I saw made my blood run cold. Coming over the opposite end of the hill was an army of Koizumi's soldiers.

"No, no, no…" I whispered horrified. I jumped off the platform and followed my Jii-chan and Lucy as they ran to the opposite end of the temple, towards the forest.

The sounds of fighting sounded behind me as The Guardians rushed into battle positions, and started taking defensive actions.

"No, no!" I cried in a low whisper.

"Protect the Sakura's!" yelled one of The Guardians.

"Mi-chan! Hurry!" My Jii-chan called out for me. Why isn't he running?

"Mi-chan take this" He handed me a pouch of medical supplies, and a bag of Alice Stones.

He gripped my shoulders. "Mi-chan, you take these and you run to the border and don't stop! You hear me, you keep running."

Tears burned at the back of my throat. "What about you and Lucy! I can't leave everyone behind!" I choked out.

"Mi-chan, you have to. You must protect yourself and stay safe, do this for your parents. Do it for the freedom of everyone here!" he told me. He grabbed me into a tight hug.

"I love you Mi-chan, don't forget that" he whispered. The tears that were threatening to fall rained down my cheeks.

"I love you too, Jii-chan"

He pushed me away towards the forest. "Go!" He yelled.

Screaming and crying was every where I turned. Yet I still ran, I ran as fast as my feet could carry me with the pouch gripped tightly in my hands. A gunshot sounded behind me—and I screamed when I heard footsteps running closely behind.

I was nearly to the forest line. I ran at a full sprint, my pursuit still following closely behind me.

I tripped over an exposed root and closed my eyes for the impact. It wasn't that bad, I landed in a bush and scraped my self—I could live with that. What I was worried about was what was behind me.

I open my eyes when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I came face to face with one of the Koizumi soldiers.

I screamed, and kicked his shins. "Get off me!"

"You little brat! You're coming with me" I landed a good solid kick to his knee and made him let go of me.

I stood up and made another attempt at running for the forest. I was so close!

"Oh no you don't!" He grabbed my wrist.

I started to panic. "Somebody help!" I cried.

As if a blessing from the gods a Guardian came out and bulldozed right into the Koizumi, taking him by surprise he let go of me and went grappling with the man.

"Run, Princess!" He told me. I gave him one last glance over my shoulder and gave him my blessing.

"Sakura!" I heard the Koizumi yell at the soldier.

I pushed deep into the forest and ran straight ahead watching my footing—I ran for about an hour straight. I fell down against a tree; looking back I saw the fires smoke in the distance. I sat there and cried, cried for the loss of my Jii-chan and Lucy. I cried because I was once again alone in life.

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**First chapter done :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey!**

**Heres the second chapter :D**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 2: **

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I wandered through the forest gripping my pouch as tight as I could—I was not going to lose the only memento I had of my Jii-chan. It had been two days since I had left the Sakura Kingdom and I have been wandering the forest looking for some sort of safe house to stay at. I had a limited amount of food that the medicine pouch had held—I am down to about 2 more days of food and water left. After I run out of food, I'm most lucky to die of starvation.

I'm already too weak to run. If it weren't for only eating as much as I could survive off of I would have been done for about tomorrow morning.

The birds started to sing in the background, it was like they were mocking me. They had plenty to eat, and they were safe up the tree with their family.

I started humming the lullaby my dad would sing to me – I walked along the trail at a steady pace making sure to keep the grip on my pouch tight.

"Hold my hand, and take me there… doo de doo, doo…" I started whistling to the tune, and kept myself cheery as I ignored the cold sweat that was breaking out on my back.

"Keep me company, doo de doo, doo… I take this road towards you… doo de doo, doo" I kicked the rock in my path, and found myself in a giant clearing.

I sighed and laid down in the grass letting the sun soak into my skin. My muscles were so sore from walking all day and night I needed to sleep, or else I wouldn't even need to run out of food – because I would just fall off a cliff from being to tired to notice.

I pulled myself into a little cave tucked away in the trees and found myself fast asleep.

I awoke to the sound of showering rain.

Rain… great just what I need right now, when I don't even have anything to change into to keep myself dry. Or an Alice to keep myself warm, dry, or even just put a barrier around me.

"Even the sky seems to be mocking my luck," I sighed.

I opened up my pouch and pulled out my bento. I stuffed the food down my throat not caring if this resulted in me getting sick afterwards. As I ate I took in the rest of my surroundings—I hadn't looked around as much because I had been to tired.

I moved towards the mouth of the cave and peered out into the haze. It looked like in front of me their was still lots of forest, then to the left of that was the way I had came – because of the big rock sitting in the middle of the trail. Then to the right there looked to be some sort of pond. Looks like after the rain let up I would be heading straight through the forest ahead of me.

I pulled myself up and stretched, walking to the back of the cave. I stood there a moment unsure of what to do.

My pouch lay crinkled up on the make shift table I had made.

I remembered what Jii-chan and the Royal Doctors had said about my Alice's not coming until I really needed it the most. Well I really could use the help right about now, no harm in trying right?

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to do something magical.

"Um, I could really use some help right about now…" I tried calling out. I waited. And waited… nothing happened.

I let out a frustrated cry and hit my fist against the stone wall. "Owwww!" I cried. I hit the wall much harder then I had meant to. I think I broke my finger.

I reached into my pouch and grabbed the medicine bag. I took out the scissors, a splint, and a bandage.

"First I need to put the splint on my finger…" I focused on getting the splint onto my finger without touching it the wrong way. I let out a whimper when it finally set into place. "Next is the bandage," I cut the length I needed to make it wrap snug around my hand. I set the scissors down and started to wrap my hand, when I finally had finished I tied the ends into a knot and packed everything back into the pouch.

Something shinny caught my eye. I peered into the pouch and noticed it was the Alice Stones, very carefully I reached inside grabbing each individual stone out to inspect, there was 3 different stones. I set them down onto the ground and inspected them—they were all about the size of my palm I realized right away. The Alice User must have been very powerful to be able to produce them these sizes.

The first one was a bright shade of orange, when I held it in my hand it glowed and became very hot—so hot that I could feel it burn my skin. I set it down again amongst the rest.

"Okay, that was weird. I've never heard of Alice Stones heating up before" I picked up the Alice Stone again and waited for it to glow or become hot. It never happened.

"What the heck!" I growled. I picked up the next stone— it was a light pink. This time when I picked it up with my opposite hand it cooled down and it froze my fingers, it even cooled the pain of my finger and numbed it. This time when I set it down and picked it up again it started to intensify in how cold it got.

I think I was starting to discover something really amazing. I picked up the third stone—this one was a brilliant shade of blue. I held it in my hand and waited to see what this one would do. Just when I thought nothing would happen I felt a weird wet sensation against my skin under the stone. I waited to see if anything else would happen if I held the stone in my hand longer. When nothing changed I set the Alice Stones back inside the pouch and tied it shut.

"Well then, even if I don't have some kind of Alice inside me yet, it looks like I have some weird Stone reaction system in my hand" I muttered sarcastically.

I sighed.

I checked outside again and saw that the rain had slowed down to just spitting. I pulled myself up off the ground noticing that my light pink kimono had been completely destroyed it was covered in dirt, and there was a giant rip up my left leg from when I fell in the bushes.

Walking out of the cave I made a run for it across the clearing into the trees on the opposite side. I kept running until I was far inside the forest again.

__

*Natsume's POV *

I woke to the sound of the jail cell rattling.

Groaning I pulled myself up off the stone floor and peered into the dark hallway. I pulled a hand through my raven locks—I needed to wash really badly, I swear I was going to burn these people for kidnapping me when I got out of here.

Ruka groaned. I looked over at my best friend as he attempted to jump off of the top bunk. His blonde hair coming down just above his sapphire orbs. His gaze landed on me sitting on the floor.

"Are you alright, Natsume?" He asked me his forehead creasing in worry. He walked over to me and peered at into my face.

"Hn"

He sighed and pulled himself down to the floor beside me. He stared ahead at the cell in front of us – so far only we were in the ones inside this dungeon. My crimson orbs flashed in the dark, if it wasn't for this stupid barrier they had around us, I would've burned this place down easily and escaped.

The Koizumi's had caught us when we were leaving from the Hyuuga Kingdom, my mom had asked me to make sure Ruka had got home safety back to Nogi Kingdom. Her and Dad had been busy tending to the Castle needs and ordering new dresses for the Royal Dinner that was suppose to be happening next week, we would be hosting the engagement party for Ruka and his fiancee. They were going to have the Princesses and their families from the Sakura and Imai Kingdoms come over.

But the Koizumi's have had their eyes on getting Ruka and I, seeing as how we would be the perfect hostages to have in their hands. So, when we left the Kingdom gates they quickly gagged us and held us in place. I think one of them had an Alice of speech and barrier. They left us completely defenseless, and I **hated** being defenseless.

The sound of approaching footsteps made us quite down. We hid back along the wall inside the shadows.

"Grab her, and throw her into the cell in front of the Princes. Make sure you don't stop your Alice until you have the cell locked shut" The voice of a Koizumi soldier ordered.

The soldier came into view with a girl about our age. She had amethyst orbs that were hidden by her raven hair.

Her gaze rested on us and her stoic expression turned shocked for just a second then she quickly hid it again.

The soldier threw her into the cell across from us and released the Alice they were using on her.

She spat at him through the bars and gave him a glare worthy of competing against my own. "You little brat, your going to stay locked in there even longer then necessary for that!" he shouted wiping the spit off his face.

"You're going to be lucky if I change my mind about turning you into a puppet to clean my inventions" she said coldly.

The man snorted and turned to walk away. After he was gone, Ruka and I walked towards the entrance of our cell.

"Oi, what you here for?" I asked.

She glared at me. I glared back.

"What's it to you, Hyuuga" she replied her voice hinted with sarcasm, "the great Hyuuga is trapped behind a cell door unable to use his famous fire Alice"

Ruka had gone completely still beside me. I looked over at him—his face was completely blank and his orbs were locked on the girl inside the cell.

"How do you know me?" I asked my voice cold.

She snorted. "How could I not. I'm brilliant," she glanced over at Ruka, her gaze lingered their for awhile longer then necessary.

Ruka took a sharp inhale of breath. "Hotaru…" he whispered barely audible.

"What?" I turned asking him.

"My name is Hotaru," her speaking again made me turn to look at her "I'm the princess of the Imai Kingdom, engaged to the prince of Nogi Kingdom"

My face remained completely unemotional as I watched the conversation between Hotaru and Ruka.

She was the one Ruka had been engaged to. I looked over and studied the girl again.

"How did you get caught?" Ruka asked his voice full with disbelief.

She snorted. "I was caught awhile ago, just I kept escaping when ever the stupid guards gave me the chance. I've been trying to get back to the Sakura Kingdom to see Mikan, today was the anniversary of her parents death"

Mikan I've heard that name before. Wait… I jumped up and grasped the cell bars.

"You've been able to get out of here?" I asked completely shocked. "And more then once, how?" I narrowed my eyes.

Her gaze went to me again. "These people are so full of themselves they think a barrier is going to stop me. I have the Alice of Invention, I can easily use my inventions to get out of here" As she was speaking she took out a glove with a hoof from behind her back.

_Where'd she get that?_ I thought.

"Invisible backpack, invention #01939" she answered my question, "I have a bunch of things in here that could easily get us all out of here"

She took out a small sticker and placed it on her arm.

"What's that?" Ruka asked.

"Anti-barrier stickers, makes Alice's that mean harm to you absolutely useless," She tossed two towards us "Put those on your arms"

We did as we were told.

I called for my fire, and was surprised when my hand lit up.

I smirked. "Hmph"

Ruka smiled his dazzling smile at his fiancee. "Amazing as usual I see"

She gave him a small smile and stood up. She opened her lock and stepped out into the hall.

"Too easy," she muttered. She snapped on a bracelet and disappeared from view.

Ruka and I stood up. I raised my eyebrows as she reappeared directly in front of us.

"Invisible cloak?" We asked the girl.

She smirked and handed us our own bracelets.

Mine had a flame in the center of a scarlet stone. Then Ruka's stone was a brilliant blue to match his eyes.

I whistled a low "Fancy,"

"Press the stone to turn on the cloak," we did as she said and we disappeared into thin air "We'll leave this place as soon as possible, I overheard the guards talking and it seems that last night the Koizumi's had invaded the Sakura Kingdom"

We ran down the darkly lit corridor making our way to the stairs. I had lit a flame to light our path.

"They also said that Mikan had escaped the event and has disappeared into the forest" her amethyst orbs flashed with anger, "we need to get out here and find her. A baka like her can only last for so long"

We had escaped the Koizumi Kingdom – which was surprisingly easy, just as Imai had predicted—In about 15 minutes.

Before we left the Kingdom, she gave us a sticker to keep our stamina up while we were on the run—which actually helped a lot with running nonstop. Imai was smart I'd give her that, but I would never tell her that out loud or she would never let me live it down.

We had stolen a whole supply of food before we left and put it on Imai's flying Car, the car followed behind us at a steady pace. We ran for the forest that was just a short distance away.

_Hn, this is too easy,_ I thought.

"How do we know were heading in the right direction?" Ruka asked.

"I put a tracking sticker on Mikan the last time we saw each other. She is really prone to getting in trouble and hurting herself" She replied emotionless, "So knowing where she was at all times helped"

She pulled out her small portable laptop and started pressing a few buttons. "She's about 300 miles away—and she's heading north, if we go at a pace of 100 miles a day we should be able to reach where she is estimated to be at in about 3 days. So that would be… 3 miles per hour"

Ruka paled.

"You're sure about this Imai," I questioned raising one eyebrow. "We don't want to be heading in the wrong direction"

She made a tch noise in the back of her throat. "Don't question me Hyuuga, let's go. Were already behind schedule"

The Sun had just rose about an hour ago and we were already up and running again.

We've been running for two days now and I was exhausted, I didn't show it on my face though—I didn't need Ruka to be worried about me. He should just be keeping an eye on Imai—she's been over exerting herself.

My muscles in my legs are killing me and I feel like crap. The stamina stickers ran out of juice yesterday, and we've been relying on just our natural state. But on a good note with the stamina stickers we were able to make a lot more ground so we were very close to finding this girl. There was about 20 miles between us now.

Ruka and Imai were whispering back and fourth to each other. I didn't need to be besides them to know they were probably discussing plans and what to do when we found her best friend.

"Natsume!"

I looked over at Ruka – he was now jogging beside me.

"Hn"

He rolled his eyes. "You really need a better vocabulary"

I glared at him and he let out a small chuckle. "I'm kidding man. How you holding up?"

"Fine," I grunted.

He sighed. "What about you?" I gave him a questioning stare.

"I'm fine. But I'm worried about Hotaru, she says she's fine but I don't trust it." He gave a worried glance over his shoulder at Imai—she had slowed down her pace to configure some more instructions on her flying car.

I smirked. "She'll be fine, were almost there anyway"

"What do you think we'll do when we find Sakura?"

"Go into hiding until we find out how to end this war, and its safe to go back home" I answered. I really wasn't sure to be honest but it was the best answer I could give him.

He ran beside me in silence for a little while.

"Hey," he muttered.

"Hn?"

"Do you think we'll be able to survive out here"

I glanced over at him. "Did you forget your Alice"

Ruka has the Alice of Animal Pheromone—he is trusted by animals and can understand them. He's embarrassed by it, but he's also an animal lover. Only a couple of people know about it—Imai, his parents, and me.

Being out in the forest Ruka has had a few animals following him and even offer him some food.

"No," He replied.

We ran in silence for a moment again.

"Thanks Natsume"

"Hn"

We stopped outside a small creek to wash up. I was deadly in need of a shower so I didn't complain—I was glad when Imai had given us each a bottle of soap to use. She had thought of basically everything we would need for this journey—she had even brought extra clothes and towels.

I pulled on the new clothes and walked back over to where Imai was setting up the place for a fire to dry our old clothes. I snapped my fingers and lit up the pile of sticks.

I sat down in front of the flames and dried my messing raven locks.

"Hyuuga," I looked up at Imai. "Here" She through an apple at me. I caught it before it hit me in the face.

"What's this?"

"An apple" she replied coldly.

I glared at her. "I know that" I replied with the same tone of coldness in my voice.

"Eat it" She rolled her eyes, "we still need to run about 5 more miles, and we don't need you passing out from exhaustion"

So she could tell I was exhausted, I'd need to watch myself in front of her. Looks like she's smarter then she appears to be.

I bit into the apple as Ruka came back from washing up, his hair still dripping wet. He plopped down next to me in bending towards the flames. His blonde hair appeared golden from the light given off.

I laid down against the ground giving myself time to power nap before we got up and ran again.

_*Flash Back *_

"_Natsume! Go tell your sister its time for dinner"_

_I set my book back on the shelf. "Sure mom" I called back._

_I ran upstairs to my sister's room and knocked on the door. "Aoi! Mom says its time for dinner. You have to come down now" _

_When no one answered I opened up the door and walked into the room. "Aoi?" I called. When she didn't answer me I walked further into the room and felt a cool breeze against my side. I turned my head and saw the door to her terrace open. I walked outside and saw her sitting on the bench holding a small bird in her hands. Her crimson orbs were closed as she held the bird close to her face._

_Smirking, I leaned down and whispered in her ear "What don't know how to answer when somebody calls your name now?"_

_She jumped off the bench._

"_Onii-chan!" She put the bird she was holding in her hands up in front of my face. "Look what I found. It was sitting on the rail, I think Karin-chan hurt her wing"_

"_You named the bird Karin-chan. How can you be so sure it's a girl?" I asked her._

"_I just know"_

_I looked at the bird, I think she was right about it hurting its wing. It was held close to its body._

"_Can I see?" She placed the bird in my hands and I lightly lifted the wing up with my finger._

"_Do you think we could get Ruka to look at her after dinner?" she asked._

"_Yea, he'd know what to do," I set the bird back down on her open palm. "Put it back in the box and we'll go get Ruka after dinner"_

"_Okay!" She smiled and ran back into her room._

_* End of Flash back *_

"Natsume!" Ruka shook my shoulder, "Natsume, get up man we have to get going"

Groaning I pulled myself up off the ground and stretched. It was already starting to get dark out, I snapped my fingers again and extinguished the burning fire.

We gathered up all the supplies again and packed them back onto the floating car.

"Let's go," I said.

Imai told us to keep heading straight, and then we broke off into a jog. We were right on top of the spot she should be at and Imai kept checking her radar.

"Is something wrong Hotaru?" Ruka asked. His Sapphire orbs locked with her amethyst.

"I'm not sure," She replied frowning. "She was walking a couple 100 meters in front of us. But I keep losing the signal" Her forehead creased.

"She was straight in front of us right? We should be able to find her in a couple minutes. Let's start running again" Ruka said.

We pushed through the bushes and ran past a couple trees, with Imai leading the way.

"It was right up he—" She froze.

"What?" I asked stopping just behind her.

"Mikan!" She yelled. She broke off into a sprint.

"Hotaru! Imai!" we yelled—We ran off after her.

She was crouched in front of a young girl lying on the ground. Her face was covered in scratches and dirt. Her long chestnut hair was in a tangled mess around her but you could tell she was extremely beautiful.

"Mikan!" Imai called, slightly shaking her.

Ruka grabbed a bottle of water and cleaned off her face. I crouched beside Imai and studied the still girl, she looked familiar somehow, but I couldn't place it.

"Mikan, open your eyes" Imai begged. The girl's eyes squeezed tight and she let out a moan.

Imai gasped. "Ruka hand me that water," Ruka gave her the half-empty bottle. "Mikan, come on," she poured some of the water into her mouth.

The girl coughed and groaned again, "…hmm," she muttered.

She squeezed her eyes tight "Hotaru… Am I dead?"

Baka Baka Baka!

Ruka and I gaped at Imai. I stood up, backing away from the awaking girl.

"Baka! Open your eyes, I don't want to keep sitting in this dirt"

I watched as the young brunette opened her eyes. I froze in place—she had the most beautiful hazel orbs I have ever seen. They widened as they rested on Imai. They stared at each other for a while.

"Hotaru…" Her voice was like a bunch of angels singing, it echoed around me.

"Dummy, you never change. What did you do now?"

Her eyes filled with tears and she pulled Hotaru into a hug. They stayed like that for awhile with her crying and Imai holding her.

"Jii-chan, and everyone, they were all taken when the Koizumi came" She sniffled.

Imai sighed. "I know,"she stood up.

When the brunette tried to stand her legs buckled, I surprised myself by catching her before she fell.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me, "Thank you," A light blush spread over her cheeks.

"Hn," I looked down, something I shouldn't have done. Her kimono had started to come unwrapped, "no problem, polka dots"

She gave me a confused look as I set her back on her feet.

"Polka dots…?" she frowned.

3…

2…

1…

"PERVERT!" She screamed.

I smirked.

"You—you, perverted jerk!" she took a step towards me and fell face down in the dirt.

"It's your fault for showing me" I shrugged. A chuckle escaped my from my lips.

She spit the dirt out of her mouth and glared at me.

Ruka stared at me in shock, while Imai just shook her head.

Polka sat down holding her ankle. "I think I twisted it when I fell…"

I picked her up bridal style and she let out a squeak.

"Hey, put me down!"

"So you can keep falling on your face? Don't think so Polka"

She gave me a weak glare. "My name isn't Polka its Mikan, M-I-K-A-N. I don't even know who you are! Wait, who are you?" she asked. She turned around looking at Ruka, then Imai. Her face filled with confusion.

Imai sighed and tugged the floating boat along after me.

Ruka followed soon after her.

"We'll explain later. Right now we need to find a place to set up camp for the next little while," Imai said.

Polka frowned.

"Let's get going then, we need to find a suitable place" 

* * *

**Second chapter done!**

**Remember to Review ;)**

**And thanks to CrimsonCutie13 for being my first review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay so, I finished Chapter 3 early... :P**

**Have fun reading.**

**Chapter 3: **

_

* * *

_

_*Mikan's POV * _

I sat on the stool patiently as Tarisha pulled my hair into pigtails on the side of my head. Today we were going to be going to the market to pick up some silk that mommy needed to make my new dress. I started to swing my feet. I think the dress is going to be an early 5th birthday present, but I'm not sure. I started to swing my feet.

"_There Mikan-hime, you're all ready for going to the market today. Go get your dress on and you can go tell Yuka-sama your ready to go" Tarisha smiled down at me._

"_Okay! Thank you Tarisha" I jumped off the stool and ran into the closet to get my dress. _

_It was a knee-length white dress with a crimson bow tied around the waist. I unzipped the zipper and stepped inside. I closed the zipper again and twirled around in front of the mirror._

"_Woooow~" I gasped. "Mommy this is so cool! It's so big, can we come here everyday?" _

_The market buzzed with the village people buying their daily groceries. They turned and smiled at me when they saw me skipping down the street. I stopped by a fresh strawberry stand._

_I gasped in excitement. I turned around trying to spot mommy, but she was busy talking to a lady. _

"_Mikan-hime," I turned around to face the shopkeeper. She handed me a big red strawberry._

"_Eat this," She smiled at me._

"_Can I really?" I asked my eyes widening. She nodded her head._

"_Thank you!" Smiling, I opened my mouth and took a bite. "Hehe, it's really yummy" I looked up at the shopkeeper smiling. _

"_That's good, Mikan-hime—you can take these too" She handed me a small box of strawberries, "I know they're your favorite so you can have them"_

_I brought the strawberries up to my face and breathed in the sweet smell. "Thank you very much!"_

_I skipped off down to the benches in the middle of the market and ate the strawberries all up._

_I jumped off the bench and started down another path towards the fresh bread. I was skipping down the path when I bumped into someone and fell down._

"_Owwww," I stood up and looked at the granny I had run into "I'm sorry" I said bowing._

"_I sense you are going to have a terrible loss in the future, you must overcome that before you can achieve what you want most. Only then can you have the power you seek" she told me in a raspy voice. _

I turned around looking for sign of mommy. I looked back at the granny but she was no longer there.

_What power I seek…? Is she talking about my Alice?_

"_Granny!" I ran forward searching for her._

_I looked throughout the whole market and didn't find her._

"_Mikan!"_

_I turned around as mommy grabbed me in a hug. _

"_Where did you run off to? I was so worried" She muttered into my hair._

_I giggled "Mommy I got some yummy strawberries from the shopkeeper over there!" I said pointing at the strawberry stand._

_She sighed and let go of me._

_She went over to the strawberry stand and bought another small basket. _

"_Yay!" I laughed. "Thank you, mommy" _

"_Mikan!" I turned to mommy again but she wasn't there. I looked around everyone had disappeared._

"_Mikan!" I turned around again._

"_Who's there?" I called._

"_Mikan! Open your eyes" I know that voice!_

_I gasped. "Hotaru…" wait this isn't right "Am I dead"_

_Baka Baka Baka!_

_I felt a familiar pain in my head. Ugh…_

"_Baka! Open your eyes, I don't want to keep sitting in this dirt"_

Groaning I slowly opened my eyes. What I saw in front of me shocked me absolutely still.

"Hotaru…" I whispered.

"Dummy, you never change. What did you do now?" she asked me.

My eyes filled with tears as I reached to pull Hotaru into a hug. I stayed like that for awhile crying onto her shoulder.

"Jii-chan, and everyone, they were all taken when the Koizumi came" I sniffled.

Hotaru sighed. "I know," She stood up.

I tried to follow after her, but when I stood up my legs gave way. I squeezed my eyes shut to wait for the impact, but it never came.

I opened my eyes and looked up. My eyes stared straight into that of another boy's beautiful crimson orbs. My eyes widened as I realized this was why I wasn't on the ground right now—he had caught me!

"Thank you," I said a blush forming on my cheeks.

"Hn," he muttered, "no problem, polka dots"

I gave him a confused look as I was set back on my feet.

"Polka dots…?"I frowned.

I felt a breeze on my chest and I froze, polka dots… I thought back to the day I was dressing in my new kimono.

3…

2…

1…

"PERVERT!" I screamed.

He smirked.

"You—you, perverted jerk!" I took a step towards him and fell face down in the dirt.

"It's your fault for showing me" He shrugged.

I heard him chuckle.

I spit the dirt out of my mouth and glared at the perverted jerk.

Another boy with blonde hair stared at the crimson-eyed boy in shock, while Hotaru just shook her head.

I sat down holding my ankle, it started to hurt really bad. "I think I twisted it when I fell…" I muttered to myself.

The perverted jerk picked me up bridal style and I let out a squeak.

"Hey, put me down!" I cried.

"So you can keep falling on your face? Don't think so Polka"

I glared at him, but the pain of my ankle stopped me from looking threatening. "My name isn't Polka its Mikan, M-I-K-A-N. I don't even know who you are! …Wait, who are you?" I asked completely confused. Now that I think about it last time I checked I was lost in the middle of the forest. I turned around looking at the blonde haired boy, then Hotaru.

Hotaru sighed and tugged the floating boat along with her as she followed the pervert and me.

The other boy followed soon after her.

"We'll explain later. Right now we need to find a place to set up camp for the next little while," Hotaru said. "Let's get going then, we need to find a suitable place"

We had stopped at a place like the one I had slept at a couple of days ago. Only this one was more hidden with trees.

Hotaru had built another one of her inventions to keep the cave entrance hidden from anyone that happened to come this way. Then we got here Hotaru had given me a T-shirt and jeans to change into. It was different then what I was used to wearing but it was comfortable.

I leaned back and studied the two boys who were whispering back and fourth between each other. Hotaru had left to go work on an invention by the lake, leaving us alone together.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the rock, my fingers tracing the fabric of my pouch.

"Sakura," I opened my eyes at the sound of my family name. It was the blonde haired boy.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I know this is kind of late coming but, I'm Ruka Nogi," he pointed over to the perverted jerk "and he's Natsume Hyuuga"

I smiled at Ruka, "Nice to meet you Ruka, I'm Mikan Sakura"

He smiled back at me, "We know, Hotaru talked about you a lot"

"Hotaru did? How do you know her"

The Perverted Jerk smirked "They're engaged"

"What!" I shouted. "Since when?"

Hotaru walked in, "Since Birth," she replied coldly.

I stared at her "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was just announced to us a couple years ago, but the Koizumi had caught me before I could come tell you anything. Then whenever I had escaped I could never make it back to the Sakura Kingdom because of the scouts they had situated there"

She plopped down next to me and bit into an apple. I stared at her in disbelief. My best friend was engaged…

"Wait, if you two are engaged," I looked over at Ruka and the Pervert "that means you two are princes?"

"Polka, you really are smart you know that?"

"Shut up, stupid perverted jerk. I told you already my name is Mikan, not Polka"

"Hn"

I glared at him.

He smirked. "That's an awfully scary glare you got their Polka"

I threw a rock at him—he caught it inches before it hit his face. His crimson orbs locked with mine.

_I'm going to get him back_ I thought.

"Mikan," Hotaru stopped me from my stare down with Natsume.

"Wha—" She threw a bag into my face, "What was that for!"

"You weren't listening to me when I called your name" she answered smirking.

"Hotaru…" I muttered glaring at her.

"Those are some clean clothes for you to change into, a towel, and some of your favorite soap. Go wash up," I stared at her.

"In the lake?"

That earned me a shot from the Baka gun. "No, I made a portable shower to the right the cave" she said, "Just walk into the stall there and turn it on. Easy as that"

"Hmm, okay"

I grabbed the bag and walked out the cave. I turned to my right and started walking down the trail. The stall lay just before the lakeshore. I stepped inside and turn on the water—I stripped down and pulled out my favorite strawberry shampoo.

I let the water run down my face cleaning all the cuts I had on my body.

I turned off the water and dried off with the towel she had packed. I wrapped myself in the towel and checked out the clothes she had got for me. There was a long white T-shirt with a big red strawberry in the center, and a pair of black fitted jeans. I brushed my fingers through my waist long hair.

I pulled on my clothes again, and stepped out of the shower. I walked down to the lake and sat on a big rock that stuck out over the edge of the water. I looked into the water and noticed that the moon and the stars were clearly reflected.

I laid down on the rock, and stared up at the sky. I wondered if I would ever see my Jii-chan and Louis again. Tears threatened to overflow from my hazel orbs. I squeezed my eyes shut and wiped a tear that had fell onto my cheek.

"What's wrong?"

I turned around and came face to face with Natsume.

"It's nothing," I lied turning around facing the water again—I quickly wiped away another tear.

He sighed and sat down beside me. "I can tell your lying" he stated.

I frowned to myself, "How can you be so sure?"

He reached over and wiped a tear that had fallen again. His crimson orbs stared directly into mine.

"I wonder," He mumbled turning away.

I shivered. One thing Hotaru hadn't given me was a sweater.

A flame popped up in front of me. It surprised me so much I almost fell into the water.

"Hmph," Natsume flicked his fingers and made another flame "Polka, the point of fire is to get warm not soak yourself in the lake. Stupid little girl"

I hmphed and put my arms over my chest. We were silent for awhile.

I hesitated, "Natsume,"

"Hn?"

"Do you think everyone is okay," I asked "I mean the Koizumi's once came and killed everyone in sight before. Do you think they did that again?" I shivered again.

"Tch," he tossed a rock into the reflection, "my mom once told me that you must not think negative thoughts for they will block all the positive thoughts in you"

I stared up at the moon looking down on us.

"I guess so," I mumbled. My eyelids started to get heavy and I pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Polka," I glanced over at him "it's late,"

He stood up. I followed quickly after and pulled myself up. I walked off the stone ahead of him and tripped over my own feet. Natsume grabbed my arm before I could fall flat on my face again.

"Ah, thanks" I gave a nervous laugh.

"Polka, your going to get yourself killed one day with your clumsiness" He smirked.

"I'm not clum–" I walked forward on my bad leg and my legs buckled.

I let out a squeak, and fell into Natsume's chest.

"I'm sorry…" I attempted to pull away but he had me held in place. My heartbeat started to race and a low blush highlighted my cheeks. "What is it?" I asked.

"You know," He whispered in my ear. My breathing hitched.

"…You have really small boobs"

I froze in place. That. Little. Perverted. Jerk!

He let go of me and headed off back towards the cave.

"PERVERTED JERK!" I yelled after him, "I can't get married now!"

He gave me a smirk over his shoulder. "Who would want to marry you?"

I growled and ran off after him.

I woke up to the smell of eggs. Natsume glanced over at me, "Oh, you're finally up polka?"

I brushed my hair away from my face, tightening it into a low ponytail.

"I smelt food," I looked down at the eggs, mouth watering. He scraped the eggs out of the pan and handed me some on a paper plate.

It smelt delicious. "I didn't know you could cook so well," I said stuffing the eggs down my throat.

"Hn,"

"Where's Hotaru and Ruka?" I asked. Stuffing down more eggs.

"They left to refill the water" he muttered lounging on a blanket.

He gave me a sidelong glance, "How many eggs do you need to eat Polka?"

"Hmph, I need food" Was my answer.

He snorted.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing,"

"Liar"

"I never knew you were a pig"

I glared at him,

"I never knew you were such a pervert"

"Clumsy"

"Jerk"

"Polka"

"Stupid,"

He hmphed and threw a bag at me. It hit me square in the face. I looked up at his face to see his trademark smirk plastered there. His crimson orbs twinkled with mischief.

"Oh, you asked for it!" I yelled, I grabbed the towel beside me and whipped it at him. It took him by surprise and I got him right in the face.

I fell down laughing.

"Aha, Natsume! You should see your face"

He smirked. "Tch, little girl. I'm going to get you back for that"

I squealed pulling myself off the floor and ran outside of the cave running right into Ruka.

"Owwww!" I fell on my butt.

"Sak—Sakura," He stuttered "Are you alright"

I heard a snort behind me. I turned around and glared at Natsume.

"Smooth, Polka"

"Shut up Natsume"

Baka Baka Baka!

"If you two have to yell at each other, you can go gather firewood and yell" came Hotaru's cold order.

I turned around towards Hotaru, holding my freshly bruised head.

"But, Hotaru" I whined.

"No, buts. Now go get some more firewood" she glared at Natsume "Ruka and I will head back down the trail looking for some fresh fruit. We'll be back in a couple hours"

I got up off the ground and walked back to the woodpile beside the shower. Natsume trailing behind me.

I grabbed a handful of logs and put them in his out stretched arms.

"Don't fall," he muttered into my ear before he turned around and disappeared into the woods leading back to the cave.

I grabbed my own pile and started to walk back towards the cave.

"Natsume, wait for me!" I called out.

"Don't move" A deep voice said.

I turned around "Wha—" A hand clamped down over my mouth.

I froze. _Koizumi_! I screamed in my head. I dropped the logs onto the ground.

He gave a sick laugh.

"What do we have here?" He purred down into my ear, the smell of alcohol gagged me "Aren't you a little young to be this far out in the woods your self"

I started shaking. I tried to scream but his hand was clamped down tight over my mouth.

I let out a whimper.

"Little Kitty, don't be scared," He whispered "I'm not going to hurt you. A beautiful princess like you in my possession—"

I bit down on his hand as hard as I could. "Natsume!" I screamed.

I made a run for the direction of the cave, but the Koizumi had caught me before I even entered the bush again.

"Polka!" Natsume ran from out of the bush. His eyes widened when they landed on the Koizumi.

"Let her go," Natsume walked towards us.

The man pulled me closer to him. He pulled out a knife and held it against my throat.

Natsume stopped in his tracks. I whimpered as he poked the knife into my skin, drawing a fresh line of scarlet running down to my shoulder.

"We wouldn't want to hurt this little kitty, now would we" He grabbed my chin forcing me to look at him, "Such a pretty face."

Natsume lit his fire up on his palm. "Let her go" Natsume replied voice dripping with venom.

The Koizumi dropped me to the ground beside him—I quickly scrambled away from him.

"You want to fight kid," The Koizumi took out his earring. "Then lets play"

The air around us became freezing cold. I tried to run to Natsume but I couldn't move my feet. I started to panic when I realized the Koizumi had the Alice of Ice. The man had frozen my feet to the ground!

"I'm not done yet," the man held up his other hand and a swirling ball of water formed.

_How many different Alice's does he have?_

"Tch" Natsume gave a glance over to me. "Polka, stay down"

"I can't move anyway!" I growled "I'M FROZEN TO THE GROUND!"

He smirked and turned around eyeing the Koizumi for an opening. Even if the man was drunk he could still hold his ground.

"Try this on for size!" the Koizumi yelled. He brought up his hands and threw a combo of ice and water daggers at Natsume.

Natsume jumped back and landed in a crouching position. He had easily dodged the attack.

"My turn," He muttered giving a scary glare to the Koizumi. He snapped his fingers and made a ring of fire circling the Koizumi, preventing him from moving away. He flicked his wrist and sent a hurtle of red-hot fireballs directly towards the Koizumi.

I watched with my eyes wide as the Koizumi easily dodged the flames, except for one last one that hit him directly in the chest.

He fell back on his butt.

He started a sick laugh and doused the fire in water and ice.

"Can't beat me that easily," He yelled. The drunkard ran at Natsume aiming a punch right to his stomach.

Natsume grunted from the impact but quickly gained back his composure. He tackled the man into a near by tree.

I heard a sick crack and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Ahh!" The Koizumi screamed out in pain. I risked a glance over to where the cries were coming from—the Koizumi lay on the ground gripping his arm.

"Hn," Natsume spat on the man. "What was that you said Koizumi? Can't beat you huh"

I saw the glint in his eyes before Natsume did.

"Natsume! Watch out!" I screamed.

He turned his head to look at me eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about Pol—" the Koizumi kicked him in the shins cutting him off. He jumped to his feet and threw a wall of water towards Natsume.

The water caught Natsume off guard and he was thrown back towards me. I screamed in horror as the Koizumi ran at Natsume pinning him down with one swift movement.

"Ugh" Natsume grunted.

"Not so tough are we pretty boy?"

_NO! This can't be happening he can't die!_

"Guess what else I can do," The Koizumi laughed "I can stop you from using your powers! Isn't that great?"

I willed myself to break my leg threw the melting ice that covered my leg. I grabbed a nearby rock and chipped at the ice,_ this isn't going fast enough! _I screamed inside. I gasped as I felt a warming surrounding my leg. I looked up and met the crimson orbs of Natsume.

"Run" he mouthed.

I broke my leg throw the remaining sheet of ice and scrambled quickly up. Holding the rock tightly in my grasp I ran towards them. I willed myself not to fall.

I jumped on the Koizumi's back and pulled him backward with all the strength I had in my body. I dug the rock into his shoulder drawing forth a line of scarlet. The jump broke my bandages and they tumbled down to the ground. I gasped in pain.

"You little—" the man turned towards me and I kicked him where it hurts, very hard.

Natsume laid on the ground melting away the ice the man had put over his body.

A thought suddenly hit me. _He isn't going to melt before the Koizumi gets back up again!_

I froze in place as the Koizumi's head turned towards me. His eyes were narrowed to tiny slits and his mouth was set in a tight line. He gave me a creepy smile.

"Little Kitty," He murmured walking deliberately slow towards me "Just you and me now"

"Polka," Natsume warned "Run, now" He had half his leg free and I could feel the heat radiating onto my skin.

But I didn't move. I froze with fear for what the man might do to me.

The Koizumi was 2 meters away from me now. I closed my eyes shut and begged for some kind of miracle.

A twig snapped and I opened my eyes quickly taking a step backward.

"Polka!" Natsume growled dangerously. "Stay away from her Koizumi"

The man stepped toward me but was blocked by a wall of fire. The Koizumi tched and turned the wall to ice. He kicked it once, then the wall crumbled down to his feet.

_Where are Hotaru and Ruka when we need them! _

The drunken soldier circled around me. I squeezed my eyes shut as he dragged a finger down my arm, his touch made my skin feel like I had just stepped outside into a blizzard

_He was freezing me again. _I started to whimper, as I could no longer feel my left arm.

_Please, help me! Anyone!_

I felt a tingling sensation on my palm—similar to the one where I had first touched the Alice Stones.

I gasped. Alice! That's what I needed.

I focused on the tingling and felt it work its way further up my arm filling my whole body. I focused on my frozen arm, the Koizumi using his Alice and Natsume lying just a couple meters away struggling to unfreeze his leg. I felt the ice on my arm start turning into water as it melted down my arm.

"Wha—" the man said shocked.

I pushed the tingling out imagining an invisible barrier wrapping around the Koizumi and stretching that barrier towards Natsume.

I heard the crack of ice and peeked through my eyelashes. Natsume stood up from the melted ice that surrounded him.

"Hn," He popped a flame into his right hand and smirked at the Koizumi. A ring of fire encircled him again.

"Why won't my Alice activate!" He cried.

"Because I won't let you," I stated staring at the man. Natsume walked up to the soldier and punched him, knocking him out cold.

* * *

**Yay! haha, tell me what you think about this one.**

**Thank you's go to**

**Ellixx & VeronicaLover123**

**Thanks for reviewing the last chapter ;D**


	4. Chapter 4

**I had a scare today. My laptop lost the documents for my story and I started to freak out, but it rescued them right away. So it's all good now, haha xD**

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 4:**

* * *

*Natsume's POV*

_Dammit! Why can't I melt this ice faster! _

I gave a worried glance up at Polka—she had her eyes closed tightly.

The Koizumi was right in front of her, he stepped on a twig and Polkas eyes snapped open she took a quick step backward.

"Polka!" I called out.

"Stay away from her Koizumi" my tone dangerous.

When the man didn't stop moving towards her and I summoned my fire.

_Please let this slow him down!_

I cursed when he took out my flames easily with a flick of his wrist. The man circled around her trapping her in ice as he went. I heard her whimper.

_Polka, hold on! _I mentally willed myself to strengthen my fire, even if the man had his Alice against me.

"Wha—" I heard him say. I looked up and saw the ice dripping down Polkas arm in a steady stream of water. She had an orange glow surrounding her—I gasped as I realized she was probably using an Alice. I felt the tingling of it wrap itself around my frozen leg, the ice cracked and I stood up—water soaking my leg.

"Hn," I popped a flame into my hand and I smirked at the Koizumi. A ring of fire encircled him again.

I was going to have to ask Polka about the Alice later.

"Why won't my Alice activate!" He cried.

"Because I won't let you," Polka stated staring at the man. I walked up to the soldier and punched him, knocking him out cold.

There was silence for a few moments.

"So," she said, "what do we do with him?"

"Bring him back to the cave so we can get Imai to deal with him"

I saw her wince from the corner of my eye. Then I remember that she had her hand wrapped up when we first saw her. But now the bandage isn't there, and a bruised finger caught my attention.

I walked over and gently lifted her hand up in mine.

"What happened to you?" I mumbled.

"It's a long story…" she whispered cringing when I touched her finger.

"We should probably fix that" I smirked. "Polka you really are clumsy"

She glared at me. "No I'm not!"

I carefully let go of her hand again and picked up the unconscious man over my shoulders.

Grunting I walked back to the cave with Polka trailing behind me.

"Owwww!" Polka cried. "Natsume! That hurt"

I pulled her hand back to me again. "Polka of course this is going to hurt,"

I gingerly placed the splint back onto her finger and secured it in place.

"What did you do to it" I asked with disbelief. I grabbed the bandage that was off to my left and started wrapping her hand.

_Is it even possible to do something like this to yourself?_

She let out a small laugh. "It's really stupid"

I snorted. "Polka, you doing something stupid? That's so hard to imagine," I said sarcastically.

She smacked me lightly on the shoulder with her free hand.

"Shut up!"

I finished wrapping and looked at her hazel orbs expectantly.

"Aren't you going to tell me what you did?" I asked smirking.

"'treactagain" she muttered quickly.

I stared at her. She stared back.

"So that's what happen—"

"Polka, there's no way anyone could understand what you just said," I cut her off,

"Repeat that again, SLOWLY" I emphasized the word for her pea brain to take it in.

She took a deep breath closing her eyes. She opened them again and I was shocked by how beautiful her hazel orbs actually are. My breathing hitched and my heart started to accelerate.

_What the— stupid heart stop pounding!_

I focused on her again as she started explaining.

"Well, you see" she said tracing the pouch that hung around her waist, "when I was on the run I came to this clearing. So I decided to stay there for the night because I was so tired, and in the morning I didn't know what to do—so I looked at the 3 Alice Stones my Jii-chan gave me before I left. Then they reacted really weird when I held them—"

She opened her pouch and pulled out two Alice Stones.

"I thought you said there was 3 Alice Stones?" I asked—eyeing the light pink and deep blue Stones.

Her brow furrowed. "I—there was 3! The light pink one that was really cold when I touched it, A blue that made my hand feel wet, and a bright orange one!" She held the bag upside down and shook it. Nothing came out.

"Are you sure?" I asked. Then I thought back to the time with the Koizumi, she had melted the ice off the both of us and the man couldn't use his Alice. Now that I think about it, she did have an orange light around her!

"Polka, do you have an Alice?"

"I don't think so, when I was younger I never was able to do anything. The doctors all said it would come when I needed it…" her orbs widened, "Natsume! Do you think the orange Alice is inside of me?"

I stared at her deep in thought.

"Natsume?" she asked shaking my arm. Her touch made electric tingles flow up my arm. I drew my crimson orbs and looked at her.

"I think that could be the case," I said after awhile.

It had been an hour since we discovered that Polka had an Alice.

_*Flash back*_

"_I that that could be the case," I said after awhile._

_Her mouth dropped. "No way!"_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah, what did you do when you stopped the Koizumi?" I asked thinking of the orange light again._

"_I was thinking of Alice, and stopping the man from hurting us… and I felt this tingling like when I first grabbed the Alice Stones so I thought of intensifying that and stretching it out"_

"_Polka I think you have an Alice,"_

_After 5 minutes of her squealing like a little girl and jumping up and down holding onto my arm, Imai and Ruka walked back in with baskets of fresh fruit and nuts._

"_Hotaaaarrrruuu!" Polka ran at Imai trying to jump into her arms. But she pulled her gun out in one swift movement._

_Baka Baka Baka!_

"_Don't jump on me, a simple hi is good enough" she glared at the brunette lying on the floor holding her head._

"_But Hotaru! I found out I have an Alice now!"_

_Imai's eyes widened. Then she narrowed her gaze and looked back at me._

"_Hyuuga, is this true?" _

"_Hn," I muttered coldly pointing to the Koizumi who was gagged in the back corner still unconscious "We were attacked and Polka stopped the man from using his Alice. She also made the Alice he already used disappear"_

_Ruka's jaw dropped when his gaze landed on the man who burped in his sleep._

"_You were attacked!" he said close to being hysterical._

"_We took care of it" I pulled my arms up over my head and leaned back against the wall._

"_We need to get rid of him," Ruka said calming down. He sat down across from me cracking open a nut._

"…_And see if that Baka really has an Alice" Imai muttered._

_*End of Flash Back*_

*Mikan's POV*

I bit down into a juicy strawberry savoring its sweet flavor. I looked over at Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume as they discussed what to do with the man. I had changed into a black long sleeve but kept on the same pants when Hotaru came back.

"I can burn him…" I heard Natsume suggest.

"I could erase his memories and send him back far into the forest again, that way we won't have to deal with the body" Hotaru said, "I've been dying to use my new invention, #00432 memory loss gum, used for erasing moments from peoples minds. I'll get a huge profit for this back home,"

We sweat dropped at the look of money in her eyes.

I swallowed another strawberry and was reaching for another one when…

"And Hyuuga take the Baka and practice with this new Alice. Ruka and I will get rid of…that" she looked over at the man.

His crimson orbs danced with mischief as he looked back at me. I started choking from the smirk he had plastered on his handso—I mean face.

_Ooh boy, what did I get myself into?_

"Com' on Polka," He grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside of the cave, back to the lake.

I dug my heels in the dirt. "I don't think this is such a good idea,"

He snorted.

"Hey…" my eyes widened as he lit a flame on the tip of his finger, "What're you doing?"

"Practice"

He pointed his finger at me and a stream of fire arrows came directly at my face. I squealed and jumped to the ground dodging them.

"Natsume!" I screamed, "Are you trying to kill me?"

He rolled his eyes. "It'd do the world good"

He shot another batch at my face.

I glared at him as I ran again to my left.

"Stupid little girl, you need to try to stop my flames"

"I can't when you're trying to burn me alive!"

"Hmph," he stood up. "Then we'll start off small"

He grabbed a log and set it on the stone we had sat at the night before. He snapped his fingers and lit the log ablaze.

"Try to extinguish it"

I looked at him then back at the log. Walking over I sat in front of the burning log.

I closed my eyes and pictured the burning log that was right in front of me. I imagined pulling the tingling out down my arm and down to my fingertips. I felt the rush of heat down my arm soon after. I closed my eyes tighter, spreading my fingers out I visualized the tingling going into the fire and stopping it. Then I focused on Natsume standing a little ways behind me and wrapped it around him.

Then I let go of the tingling and let it return back inside me.

I hear him gasp and opened my eyes. The fire was out and Natsume's eyes were widened.

"I did it…" I muttered.

"I did it!" I screamed out. I jumped up and gave Natsume a hug. I let go of him and showed him my biggest smile.

He stared at me a small smile tugged at his lips.

I gasped. He never smiled before in front of me.

My smile widened. "You should smile more often!" I giggled.

He snorted.

"Falling for me already Polka?" he teased.

"In your dreams,"

He smirked and lit up his palm.

My eyes widened. "Don't you dare…" I warned slowly backing up.

"Don't do what? This," he flicked a burning arrow towards me, I squealed and fell to the ground.

"Or this," he shot a fireball at me and I rolled from the spot I had been lying at.

I glared at him. He was still smirking. "Or—"

"I get it!" I yelled.

He snorted.

"What—" I smelt something burning and I raised an eyebrow at him.

I froze—I turned my eyes to the side and saw my ponytail on fire.

I squeaked and fell back on my butt, the lake was to far away.

"Use your Alice" he said smirking.

I glared at him but closed my orbs none the less.

I focused on the tingling again and pulled it to my shoulder that had my hair on it. I thought about a invisible arm of power running through my hair. Immediately the smell of burning disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes and let my gaze rest on Natsume.

"Natsume…" I said giving a low chuckle.

"Oh crap," he muttered. He backed up towards the lake and tripped over the log we had used for practice.

I burst out laughing as he fell down into the water. His head popped up onto the surface and he said a few colorful words.

"Haha, oh my gosh! Natsume, you should see yourself right now" I walked to the stone ledge and peered down at him. A giggle escaping my lips as water streaked down his forehead. Then I realized something… he was soaking wet and standing right in front of me, while I was dry and on land.

He smirked his eyes danced mischiefly as he looked at me.

"Don't—" he brought his fist down into the water, soaking me.

I sat their dripping wet staring at him.

He gave a low chuckle "Oops,"

I growled and splashed him back.

He raised his eyebrows "I'm already soaked, Stuuuupiiiidd" he said the last word longer then necessary. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down into the water.

I was greeted by cool water soaking my whole body. I kicked off the bottom and resurfaced beside Natsume.

"Why you little…" I growled.

He snorted. "What you going to do about it?"

I floated there in the water for a second looking at him. I growled to myself as I realized I couldn't do anything, because we were both soaking wet.

"Nothing," I muttered.

He smirked and swam back to the ledge—he got up and out of the water.

"Polka," He offered me his hand and I took it. He pulled me out in one easy movement.

I stared down at the wet that had already collected under our feet.

"We're soaked," I giggled looking up at Natsume. My jaw dropped when I saw he had pulled off his shirt and was basically already dried. A blush highlighted my checks and I quickly looked away. My heart rate started increasing dramatically.

_Calm down, calm down. He just has his shirt off!_

_But he looks pretty good—No! Stop looking._

"Polka," I looked up and was greeted by a towel smacking in my face.

"Put that around you, your gonna get sick"

"And who's fault would that be!" I asked.

He snorted and turned back to the cave, I followed quickly after.

"Why are you soaked?" Ruka asked, eyes wide.

"How was the practice?" Hotaru asked at the same time Ruka spoke.

"Natsume pulled me in the water after he fell in" I said answering Ruka.

Ruka laughed at his best friend seeing him standing in a puddle of water.

"She has an Alice," Natsume said speaking to Hotaru "She can stop my Alice and me from using it"

Hotaru closed her eyes, I presume she was trying to figure out what I had.

"Nullification Alice," she muttered after awhile.

Nullification! Just like my dad.

"Nullification," Natsume murmured "that would make sense"

Ruka handed me a plate of fresh fruit and water.

"Thank you, Ruka!" I ate to my hearts content.

"No problem Sakura," he replied staring at me shoving the food down my throat.

"She always eats like that" Hotaru's cold voice informed her fiancé.

He sat down in front of the fire and ate his own fruit. "Really?"

She nodded her head then turned back to tinkering with a piece of metal in her lap.

"What's that?" I asked her pointing to the metal object in her lap.

"New Baka gun,"

I sweat dropped and instinctively moved away.

Ruka laughed at my actions while Natsume just smirked.

"Hey, what happened to the Koizumi?" I asked changing topic.

"Hotaru and I took care of it," Ruka told me.

"What did you decide to do?"

"After you guys left he woke up, so Hotaru took her gum and placed it in his mouth and threatened to shot him with her Baka gun if her didn't chew" I heard Natsume snort at that.

"He didn't listen to us at first so she shot him. Then he decided that the gum was really delicious and kept chewing it," he glanced over at Hotaru, "and I guess there's an ingredient that makes you not able to stop chewing until the memory is completely wiped of all information that is needed to be gone" Ruka continued.

He took a breath and finished off, "So after the gum dissolved, he passed out. I had to carry him back to the middle of the forest just south of here and left him alone with a basket of food"

Natsume let out a low whistle.

"Did you see any other soldiers out there?" Natsume asked.

"No," Hotaru spoke up "I searched the area with my radar, it didn't pick up any signs of movement from Koizumi. But just in case I set up…distractions"

Distractions, I'm guessing that meant she had put different traps up in the area. I felt sorry for the person who walked into that.

An hour later I was sitting back down by the lake, freshly showered.

I traced my bare feet over the top of the water, the cool water relaxing me.

I heard someone walking up, I looked back and saw Hotaru. She was carrying a small basket.

She plopped down beside me and thrust the basket on my lap. The smell of strawberries over whelmed me and I picked a big red one and let the sweet juice drip onto my chin.

"How are you?" Her voice brought me from savoring the strawberry any longer. I swallowed and looked at her.

"Fine," I muttered. Last night came back up in my mind. "Just worried about Jii-chan"

She picked a strawberry from the basket and bit down into it. She stared at the other half of the strawberry for awhile.

"They'll be fine," she replied after awhile, "The Koizumi's would need them, so they won't be hurt. They want to win them over"

"I guess," Tears formed in my eyes, the thought of Jii-chan being hurt and held against his will popped into my mind.

I stood up and stretched. I smiled down at her, "It's late lets go to bed"

She stood up and looked at me her eyes softened.

"Mikan," she pulled me into a hug. I let the tears run down my face freely as she ran her hands threw my hair.

"Shhh, its going to be fine" she cooed me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of all the times Jii-chan was there to dry my tears after my parents death. He had told me the same thing 'its going to be fine', I hoped, really hoped that it would be.

* * *

**Woohoo, This chapters done.**

**Have school again tomorrow, sorry if I don't update right away.**

**Thank you**

**Ashia Yifei 07**

**Natsumikan12345**

**& Violet spirit for reviewing the last chapter~**

**Remember to Review ;D**


	5. Chapter 5

**I was having a mental block, couldn't think of what to write about. So sorry if this chapter is... weird.**

**Sorry if there's spelling mistakes and such, *bows***

**Haha, enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 5:**

* * *

* Mikan's POV*

Today was another practice day for my Alice. It still isn't stable yet, and Natsume said with practice that I'd be able to just snap my fingers to turn on my Alice. He also said that if I practiced really hard, I could just picture in my mind what I want to happen and it'll happen—that would be really cool if I could do that. I flexed my fingers, imagining the glow of my Alice sweeping out into the air in front of me.

Lying on the stone, the afternoon sun shone down on me. I let it soak into my skin warming my tense muscles.

I turned my head and gazed into the water my reflection looking back at me—hazel staring into hazel.

This morning Hotaru had finally decided to give me something heavier to wear—a deep indigo sweater. I twirled my braid around my finger, I had decided having my hair tied back would be better than Natsume able to burn all my hair if it was just down… my thoughts wandered for a moment.

_Speaking of Natsume…_ I pulled myself up into a sitting position and looked into the trees, I've been waiting 15 minutes. He told me to go ahead of him so he could finish up with a few things. _He better not just letting me sit out here to wait! _I growled in my mind.

I laid down on the rock again—hanging my hand over the ledge, I traced the top of the water. Small ripples echoed around my fingertips.

"Doo de doo… doo," I started humming to my favorite lullaby.

I took out my pouch tracing the familiar fabric of the silk. Glancing over at the trees with no sign of Natsume I took out the 2 Alice Stones and looked at them. The light pink seemed to sparkle in the light. I brought it up to my face and studied it.

I've never noticed before but it looks like there are little speckles of white hidden among the pink. I blinked then looked closer at the stone—there wasn't any white that I could see.

Sighing I put the stone back down beside the blue.

"…Mikan,"

My head shot up and I stared out into the lake—it was covered in a light mist, except for one spot in the middle of the lake. My eyes widened as they rested on girl with long wavy hair past her waist, she had pale blue eyes and rosy lips—but the thing is… every once in awhile she would flicker and become transparent, then she would reappear again.

"Whoa, what have I been eating?" I said staring at the beautiful young girl.

"I am Oracle. I am your guidance you could say," her eyes stared through me, unblinking. I heard her voice clearly even though she was standing in the middle of the lake.

"What… Oracle?" I looked at her confused.

"I am a spiritual being, I come to you in this form to speak with you. This form won't last long, so you must listen. That pouch, those Stones, you must return them to you. Just like you already have with the first one," she floated towards me, hair floating around her head, "they will help you with the power you already have inside of you. This is what make the Stones go into your body. But you must find the key to getting the other two in. You discovered the first one, 'To protect'. There are two others you must find…"

"I… have to get them inside me," I looked at her raising an eyebrow.

"You've done it already with the first one, 'To protect'. The two others are 'To believe', and 'To lov—" she broke off and flickered and started dissolving.

"What are the other two!" I yelled at her.

"…Remember to return them inside you—as you already have with the first," I heard her whisper before she disappeared completely.

"Wait!" I called after her. I stood up and ran to the ledge.

I pulled myself quickly onto my elbows. I looked around me and noticed there was no longer mist.

_What… was that?_

I looked in front of me and saw an amused Natsume lounging on the grass.

"Polka," he smirked "Done sleeping now?" he twirled a piece of grass between his fingers before setting it alight. His raven locks covering his eyes.

_What had I been dreaming again? …Something about,_ The Alice Stone gleamed in the corner of my eye. "Oh, forgot to put these away"

_Remember to return them inside you—as you already have with the first…_

"What did you say?" I turned to look at Natsume.

"Nothing," he answered—giving me a once over "let's start practice"

Practice went by quickly and apparently I was a fast learner despite 'being a dense stupid little girl'. I could already bring out my Alice without having to close my eyes and focus. Natsume said that with a couple more practices I could probably use my Alice really well.

Outside was dark and the moon shone down into our cave. Hotaru had gone for her shower and Ruka was out talking to the animals to see if any Koizumi were close.

I twirled a burning stick Natsume had just lit and thought of extinguishing the flame. It popped out of life and the stick was left smocking.

"Hn," Natsume muttered from beside me.

"What? Sad that I can get rid of your precious fire" I teased.

"Whatever," The stick lit again and I dropped it out of surprise.

"Natsume!" I shrieked, "Are you trying to burn me alive"

I glared at Natsume and he gave me a cocky grin.

"Oops, I thought you could extinguish it?" he teased.

I narrowed my eyes. Two seconds later the flame was gone.

"Oh," he smirked "Destroying my flames now little girl?"

I wiped my blanket at him.

"Thanks Polka, I could use a blanket it's a bit chilly out here tonight" he wrapped himself in the blanket and rested his head down on his pillow.

I stared at him in shock, _How dare he keep my blanket!_

I threw my pillow straight at his head.

"Give it back, it's freezing in here!"

He rolled over and propped himself up on his elbows. "Well if someone hadn't destroyed the fire and the stick, there would still be warmth—and light!"

"Shut up!" I crawled over to him and tugged at my blanket. I pulled towards me as he pulled away from me.

I sighed and let go of my grip as I realized he wasn't planning on letting me have it back any time soon.

"Hmph," he propped his hands behind his head "That's what I thought"

I growled at him pulling myself down on my pillow. I closed my eyes and pretended to fall asleep.

"Stupid little girl…" I heard him mutter. I shivered when a cool breeze passed through the cave.

I heard him rustling besides me and peeked through my lashes. He sat by the fire placing logs up again, he snapped his fingers and let the logs ablaze. I immediately felt the warm against my skin, and let out a happy sigh.

I heard him walking over again—I closed my eyes again.

I felt warm covering over my shoulders, I felt the familiar wooly fabric—_he gave me the blanket back!_ I let myself give a small smile.

I heard him sigh. I peeked through my lashes again and saw him plop his pillow down beside mine. He leaned against the wall propping his hands behind his head. I watched the reflection of the flames dancing in his crimson orbs.

I closed my eyes and started falling asleep when I felt him lay down.

"Night Polka," I heard him whisper.

His finger brushed my hair away from my face.

I felt a blush forming on my cheeks and leaned forward—right onto his chest. My eyes widened and my heart rate started to accelerate. He wrapped his arms around me and I stopped breathing.

I heard his steady breathing and relaxed, _He's just asleep _I realized.

"…Night Natsume" I murmured after awhile.

I snuggled into his chest and drifted off into sleep. My mind wandering to dreams of my parents and Jii-chan.

_Remember to return them inside you—as you already have with the first…_

* Hotaru's POV*

I dried my hair off and went to find Ruka, I needed to get him to stop socializing with the animals—It was late. I found him sitting just by the lake holding a rabbit. I caught my breath and stood there watching him, his beautiful blonde hair was hanging down over his face. The rabbit placed a paw on his chin and his sapphire orbs locked with my amethyst.

The rabbit had gave me away I realized, I sent a glare at the small animal in his arms.

"Hotaru!" I looked back at him he had a playful smile on his features, "Come here, the view is amazing right here"

I walked down the dirt path and sat down beside him. He still held a playful smile on his face.

"What?" I said, "Pictures last longer, I could give you a camera—but that would be 200 rabbits"

He sweat dropped and turned around. "I don't need a camera," he leaned his head against mine "because I have you beside me to look at all the time" He placed a light kiss on my cheek.

I hid my blush turning my head to the side.

"Hmph," I muttered.

We walked back into the cave and my eyes shone with money.

"Hot—Hotaru, what?"

"Money," I smirked pointing. In front of me lay my best friend and Hyuuga cuddled together asleep. I pulled out my camera and took a picture. "This is going to make me very rich"

Ruka sweat dropped at me again and looked down at his best friend. His eyes softened as he saw his best friend sleeping with Mikan in his arms.

"Looks like something is about to happen between those two," he murmured quietly.

I saw Hyuuga tighten his hold on the Baka in response. I took another picture.

"Lots of money" I smiled evilly.

*Natsume's POV *

"Stupid little girl…" I muttered. I saw the brunette shiver from a cool breeze.

I walked over to the fire pit, and set the logs back up.

_I can't believe that this girl can make me so crazy…_

I lit the logs again and immediately the cave filled with warmth. Polka let out a sigh.

I grabbed the blanket and pulled it over her shoulders, she gave a little smile.

I sighed, plopping my pillow down beside hers. Leaning against the wall propping my hands behind my head, I watched the flames.

I sensed she was in daydream land and I finally let myself give in to the temptation. I laid down beside her, staring at her beautiful face.

"Night Polka," I whispered.

I brushed a hair away from her face. She leaned forward—right onto my chest. My eyes widened and I blush highlighted my cheeks. I let my bangs cover my face.

I wrapped my arms around her small body and I closed my eyes. I felt her relax against me.

"…Night Natsume" She snuggled down into my chest and I tightened my grip on her.

_I… was I really falling for this Baka?_

I let myself fall into a deep sleep.

"_Mom! I got Aoi," I called running into the formal dinning room._

"_Great Natsume," she called from the opposite end of the table. She was leaning over the table lighting the candles._

_I looked around the room, it was fancier than usual._

"_What's going on?"_

"_Oh, Hun. My old friend is coming over for dinner tonight! She's bringing her husband and daughter with her" at the word daughter she gave a little wink to me._

"_Mom!" I accused, "I don't want to keep being set up with girls"_

_She gave a little pout, "But Hun, you haven't even met her ye—" She squealed and jumped up and down._

_Aoi and I stared at her._

"_Their here!"_

_A lady about my mom's age walked in she had long chestnut hair, and hazel orbs. They hugged when they saw each other. Then a man with sandy blonde hair came in and shook hands with Dad, they exchanged a few words. Then a young girl maybe my age caught my attention._

_She looked like the younger version of her mom her long chestnut hair was pulled into pigtails and her big hazel orbs landed on me. Her dad gave her a push and she came over to us._

"_Hi, I'm Mikan!" she said with a big smile on her face. My breathing stopped, she was… beautiful._

_My sister elbowed me. "My names Aoi Hyuuga!" she replied with the same cheerfulness._

"_Nice to meet you Aoi, can I call you Aoi?" she giggled when Aoi shook her head yes. Her eyes rested back on me again._

"_That's my Onii-Chan Natsume Hyuuga" _

"_Nice to meet you Natsume!" she gave me a big dazzling smile, "May I call you Natsume?"_

"_Hn"_

_She frowned and looked back over to my sister._

"_Onii-Chan's always like that," she said_

"_Oh okay!"_

_My mom sent a knowing wink over to me and I glared at her in return._

"_Well, Let's eat we don't want the food to get cold!"_

_We spent the rest of the night socializing with the Baka and her family. Turns out they were the Royal Family from the Sakura Kingdom. _

_The little girls a princess, huh? I thought to myself._

"_Mikan-Chan is really pretty right Onii-chan?" Aoi whispered to me. I glared at her._

"_How would I know?"_

"_You're staring at her," she giggled._

"_Am not… I'm studying her"_

"_So you admit to looking at her!" Aoi giggled and I smacked her leg under the table._

"_Shut up, don't we have to get Ruka to look at your bird?" I asked changing topic._

_She jumped up from the table. "I forgot about Karin-chan!" Aoi grabbed her new friend taking her upstairs._

_I took that as my cue to get Ruka, "I'm inviting Ruka over"_

_Ruka was going to become a vet one-day I swear. As soon as I told him there was a bird he ran off back to Aoi's room before I could say it was injured. But none the less he took the bird and patched his wing up in a little sling._

"_It should be good now, just make sure to keep it fed"_

"_Whoa!" The Baka said, "you're really good at that. That must be fun to be able to talk to animals and other things" her hazel orbs twinkled._

"_Yeah, it is. What about you Sakura, what can you do?" Ruka asked._

_All ears were turned to the Baka. _

_She looked down at the floor, pretending that was the most amazing thing ever. _

"_I don't have Alice yet,"_

"_What?" Aoi asked, "really"_

"_Yeah, I can't do anything special like you guys can"_

_After we learned about Her not having Alice we all quieted down. _

_A few minutes later though, she left with her parents back to their Kingdom._

I opened my eyes and blinked at the morning light.

_Who was that girl? I can't remember…_

I heard someone yawn then remembered Polka was sleeping on my chest.

"…_Night Natsume"_ a light blush covered my cheeks but I quickly shook it off.

My arms were still wrapped around her small shoulders I immediately loosened my grip and let my arms relax. I closed my eyes and breathed in the strawberry scent of her hair.

"…Hmm" she mumbled. I realized she was waking up and placed my arms under my head. I watched as her head slowly rise off my chest—I started missing her warmth right away. Her gaze lifted to me, her eyes widened when our gazes met.

"Good morning Natsume!" She smiled rubbing her eyes. She stood up and stretched.

"Hn, its about time," I muttered "Your so heavy you know that"

She turned around looking at me "I am not heavy!"

"Hmph, that's what you think" I smirked. I tossed her pillow at her, hitting her leg.

She growled ignoring what I said. She took her towel and left for shower.

I let a small smile appear on my face when she left.

_Baka, You're not heavy at all._

*Mikan's POV*

I let the warm water run down my face, my cheeks still warm from falling asleep on his chest. I mentally slapped myself to calm down.

I poured the strawberry soap on and inhaled the familiar scent.

"Doo de doo," I hummed. I listened to the birds singing in the background, and my beating heart calmed.

I pulled on my clothes and left back to the cave Hotaru and Ruka had woken up and were snacking on some bacon and eggs. My mouth watered as soon as the smell hit my nose.

"Polka," Natsume placed a plate under my drooling chin.

"Thanks!"

I stuffed down the food and let out a content sigh—_This was soo good!_

I held my plate up to Natsume he rolled his eyes and refilled it again.

"*Cough* Pig *Cough*"

"What did you say?" I yelled at him.

"Nothing,"

"Liar,"

"Hn" he gave me a small cocky grin, mischief clearly visible in his eyes.

My heart fluttered.

_Stop it heart!_

I gave him a weak glare then continued eating. Bliss filling my stomach.

Today we were going exploring in the forest. We were checking the area to make sure there was no Koizumi sneaking around. Hotaru had decided that being in Partners would be better then splitting up.

We drew names Hotaru got paired with obviously with Ruka. So that left Natsume and I to be partners.

"Polka, don't fall again" Natsume said beside me.

"I'm not going to fall!" I argued. He walked ahead of me and I ran to catch up. "Hey, why are you going so—"

I tripped over a rock and fell face first into the dirt, I heard him snort.

_Oh, the irony._

"Not going to fall?" he smirked at me sitting on the ground, I held my broken finger caressing the pain.

"Clumsy Baka,"

I growled at him and stood up.

"We need to check the place out, come on," I said changing the subject.

I could feel him staring at me, but I choose to ignore it. I didn't need to hear him call me a Clumsy Baka again.

I walked towards a darkened part in the woods, something was telling me not to go there but I just let the feeling pass. Natsume lit a flame when it became too dark.

"There are a **lot** of trees here," I muttered spitting a leaf out of my mouth.

"Why did you pick the darkest place there was to check?" he asked sarcastically.

"I felt like it," I gave him a glance over my shoulder.

"Of course" I heard him mutter.

I picked up a dead branch and motioned for him to light it.

"You go left and I'll go right" I said.

"Okay, just don't fall" and he turned to go.

"I won't"

I walked farther into the bush. It all seemed normal so I walked back towards the spot Natsume and I had left each other.

"Natsu—" A hand clamped down over my mouth and everything turned dark.

* * *

**This chapter is done~**

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**Thank you's too,**

**bunnyjumps**

**VeronicaLover123**

**Violet spirit**

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**Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter(s) & reviewing more than once! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, how's it going? ^^**

**Enjoy Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 6:****

* * *

**Mikan's POV*

I walked through the dark never ending trees—I looked for any sign of people. I didn't hear a thing or see any light coming from possible campfires. I turned around and retraced my steps back to where Natsume and I had parted ways.

_I wonder if he saw anything?_

I pulled myself through another bush and looked around. I held my burning stick up above my head searching the shadows.

"Natsu—" a hand clamped down over my mouth and everything went dark. I stifled a scream and struggled against his hold.

"Polka! Its me," he whispered against my ear "I saw something up my way, I don't want them to hear you. I'm going to let go of you now so remember to whisper"

As soon as he let me go, I spun around and kicked his shin. He said a few colorful words and glared at me.

"What the heck was that for?" He growled low.

"You scared me half to death! I thought you were a Koizumi" I nearly screamed at him—but remembered what he said about him seeing something, so it came out in a high pitched whisper.

I looked at my faintly burning stick, thanks to him I dropped it and everything became dark again. Except for Natsume's hand which was lit in flames.

"What did you see?" I asked calming down.

"Come here," He grabbed my wrist and pulled me straight ahead from where he went to go look. We stood behind a big oak tree and peered around it. A small camp laid about 100 yards away, smoke coming up from beside the tent—that would be the fire. I looked closer and spotted 4 figures sitting on the ground there. I saw a distinctive flag flying above the tent—_Koizumi!_

I looked over at Natsume—my orbs wide.

"Do you think that drunk one we saw a couple days ago belongs with them?" I asked him, keeping my voice to a low whisper.

"I think so," he answered. His crimson orbs narrowed as he watched the men walking around the tent.

"Let's go get Imai and Ruka," he dragged a hand through his raven locks.

"Invention #00668 Mini surveillance camera and speaker. Can hear voices from miles away and report the images on screen" Hotaru informed us.

We sat in front of the same oak tree and watched the tiny screen. Four men sitting around the fire appeared.

One man looked to be in his mid twenties, he had short red hair and striking green eyes. He was talking to another man—he had long brown hair tied behind his head. He wore black glasses hiding his eyes, but he had stubble framing the bottom of his face.

The third man was a lot older than the others were—he was slightly balding and had deep frown lines on his face. The last man had very long black hair and black make up… he looked Goth. He had a very dark aura surrounding him.

The Goth man finally spoke breaking the silence.

"Where the hell is Markus?" he barked out. His eyes flashed with anger.

"Calm down, he's probably passed out drunk somewhere in the forest" the red haired man answered.

"Reo, Don't tell me to calm down!" his glare sent shivers down my spine.

"Persona, he's right. We can live without the drunk. How hard can it be to find one little lost princess! She can't even use Alice, we can easily catch her ourselves" the bald older man spoke.

I froze,

"Are they talking about me?" I whispered.

Hotaru looked at me then back to the screen. I leaned down myself listening intently.

"How do we even know the princess is still alive, the man who saw her said she didn't have any bags with her except for a small pouch. How can she live out here for more than two days?" he continued.

The man with glasses shook his head in agreement, "Sir, we don't even know if this is worth our time. Why don't we just return to the Sakura Kingdom and just say she's dead?"

Persona punched the man in the face. The other two rushed to their sides pushing them away from each other. The glasses guy pushed against Reo's grip—but Reo had a good hold against him and successfully pushed him back by the fire.

"Key, it's not worth it. Just back away" he whispered.

"And what would the Queen do to use then!" Persona spat. He pushed himself out of the old mans grip and walked away.

They all cowered away from him and sat back by the fire. Persona moved back into the tent. The three other men, Reo, Key and the old man, sat quietly whispering amongst themselves how to complete the mission without Markus.

We stared in shock at the screen. The men had come for me! They were going to take me back to the Queen for who knows what, my head would probably be a gift for her to mount along the walls. I looked away from the screen to the tent that lay in the distance.

_What do we do now…?_

"Let's get out of here," Ruka murmured.

Hotaru grabbed her invention and packed it away, Natsume guided us back to the trails and we ran back to our cave just a little ways away.

We sat in silence for a moment—silently chewing on the left over strawberries.

I wasn't that hungry but I couldn't stop myself from having a taste of the familiar flavor on my tongue, I closed my eyes relaxing again.

The tension in the room had lifted after everyone let out a small sigh of relief for not getting caught.

I looked up and crimson orbs caught my attention, I stared at Natsume as he gave a little glance in my direction before popping another strawberry into his lips. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Ruka cleared his throat.

Everyone's attention was on him.

"Uhh, what do we do now?" he asked. I let out a sigh of relief–at least someone had finally decided to ask.

"We need a plan," Hotaru replied coldly.

"Well duh," Natsume looked over at her. They had a mini glare war before Ruka spoke again.

"What exactly are we going to do then? We can't necessarily run off farther into the forest… and fighting them, well I don' know about that"

Natsume lit his palm "Why not fight? I've been dying to burn someone for keeping me locked up in the dungeon" he gave a small evil aura before I popped his bubble.

"But how can we fight when we don't know what their Alice's are, and their much older than use. Then Persona… he looks really dangerous," I said.

"The Baka has a point," I glared at her "We need a plan to get each one of them away from the camp and fight them 4 against 1. That way we would have a chance"

"But how would we get them away separately?" Ruka asked.

Three pairs of eyes looked at me, I choked on my new strawberry.

_I soo don't have a good feeling about this…_

"Easy," Hotaru replied.

"We just use Polka," Natsume smirked.

We were going to start the plan tomorrow morning right before the sun came up—I was supposed to appear just at the edge of the trees and let the man sitting by the fire come after me. But before he could let out a call for help, Natsume would sneak behind him with Hotaru's Cloaking bracelets, and knock him unconscious. Ruka would get rid of his body after we used Hotaru's memory loss gum. We were going to repeat that until we got down to just Persona.

"Polka, we need to practice" Natsume's voice brought me back to reality.

"Okay," We walked to the lake in silence. I took a glance over at Natsume the sunset gave him a weird eerie glow. I focused on mentally preparing myself for his attacks.

I took my position across from him—I flexed my fingers.

"Ready," he called over to me. I gave him a brief nod.

"Set… go" he threw a handful of fireballs at my face I jumped back and looked at each fireball imagining them disappearing.

"You're getting better at this," he smirked.

I gave a cheeky grin, and flicked out the fire he had in his hand and I keep my focus on not letting him use his Alice.

We went back and forth—him throwing fire at me, and me stopping him from using it.

After about an hour or so of doing that we stopped.

"Are we done?" I asked panting.

"Yeah," He splashed water up on his face.

I sighed and fell down against the grass. The dew kissed my cheeks.

"This feels soo nice," I mumbled into the cool grass.

I heard a rustling and saw Natsume plop down right beside me.

"What do you know? The stupid girl is actually right," amusement spread onto his face.

I glared at him. "I'm not stupid!"

"You said so yourself I was a really good learner!" I argued.

"I said that just to make you shut up," he smirked at my expression.

I shut my jaw dropped mouth and pulled myself up into a sitting position.

I pulled out my ponytail and let loose my long hair.

"That's better," I murmured to myself.

I looked back down to Natsume staring at me—his hands still resting in the water of the lake.

"What?" I asked, "Is there something on my face.

"You should keep your hair down, it looks better that way"

"Wha—" Cool water hit my face. I heard a snicker and looked at the retreating figure of Natsume.

"Wh—Why would I listen to you!" I yelled after him.

He looked back at me and smirked.

"_You should keep your hair down, it looks better that way"_

I turned my head and put my blushing face into my hands.

I splashed water up into my face over and over again until the front of my shirt was soaked. Then I ran back to the cave.

* The next morning*

Baka Baka Baka!

"Owww!" I woke with a newly bruised head.

"Hotaru! What was that for?" I yelled rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"You weren't waking up, we need to start the plan" she replied coldly.

"Ugh," I complained. "You didn't need to shoot me"

I heard a snort and glanced over at Natsume.

"What's so funny, huh?" I glared at him.

"Nothing," he smirked, amusement dancing in his crimson orbs.

I gave him a glare before being kicked out of the cave by Hotaru with instructions to go have a shower and wake up.

I pulled on my red long sleeve sweater and black jeans… then left my hair down, surprisingly.

A little blush spread on my cheeks as I walked back into the cave—Natsume smirked when he saw me.

"Nice, Polka" he murmured when I sat down beside him.

"Hmm," I muttered.

Hotaru briefed us on the plan again and placed tracking stickers on us just in case something was to go wrong. I placed mine behind my ear to keep it out of sight. Then she gave us a piece of memory loss gum, just in case we needed to take someone out when we have the chance.

We headed out back to the darker part of the forest with Natsume leading the way, but instead of stopping back by the oak tree we followed the forest line all the way to the front of their campsite. It was still really dark out so I tripped over a few logs.

When we got there we saw Persona heading off in the opposite direction, so we stayed hidden in the bushes until he was fully gone.

The glasses guy, Key, was sitting by the fire, he tossed in a stick.

Natsume activated his invisible cloak and got in position behind the man. I took my cue and Ruka got ready to run to get him.

I walked out in his line of sight and stood there. Pretending to be shocked and scared. I turned around and ran back into the trees.

I heard him get up to run but Natsume hit him on the back of the neck. Ruka ran past me and grabbed him with the help of Natsume. We carried him over to Hotaru where she put in the gum and put him on a floating raft heading away from where we currently were.

We waited 5 minutes then Reo, came out.

"Key!" he came out by the fire and searched for a sign of the man. He looked over straight towards us hiding and came closer.

"Natsume, get ready…" I whispered. I hid behind a tree as he pressed the cloak again.

Reo came into the forest and Natsume him in the stomach and tossed gum in his mouth. He was sent on the next raft Hotaru had set.

"2 done, 2 to go…" Ruka murmured – The sun was just starting to rise as the old man came out.

"Where are those two…" he looked around, "Must be off in the forest,"

He sat back down in front of the fire and we were about to get ready to jump him when Persona came jogging back towards camp. We walked backwards quickly to avoid being spotted.

Natsume tapped my shoulder I turned my head to him.

"Were going to leave it for right now, we'll come back tonight" he mouthed.

I gave him a thumb up and followed in his footsteps trying not to step on any sticks. Once we were a safe distance away, we broke into a jog.

"Good job Natsume" I smiled over at him.

"Hn,"

"I'll race you back"

He raised an eyebrow. "What afraid you'll lose?"

"Nope," he snorted "You'll just fall and I'll win anyway"

I ran at a sprint ahead of him. I looked over my shoulder and gave him a smile. I turned around again when I heard him speed up his pace, I ran at full speed.

I laughed when he finally reached up to me.

"Still confident?" he panted.

"You bet," I breathed. I rounded the trail heading back to the lake and ran like there was no tomorrow. I gasped when Natsume passed me and we both crashed into the water.

I surfaced and started catching my breath—Natsume resurfaced right in front of me. His raven locks dripping water down his face. We stared into each other's eyes for awhile while we caught our breath.

"What do I get for winning?" he finally asked me. His crimson orbs looked at me expectantly.

"…I don't know," I hadn't actually thought about it. I combed my fingers through my hair.

"I didn't actually think about it. Do you really need something"

"Obviously," he smirked.

"Ok, you have beat me in the race, I christen you" I splashed water into his face.

I giggled when he glared at me.

"Ooh, scary"

He splashed me and I returned the favor by splashing him and swimming back closer to shore.

Ruka ran over towards us.

"Hey guys," he seemed to realize we were in the lake for the first time "why are you in the lake!"

I looked over at Natsume and he smirked.

"On three,"

"I mean you could get sick…" he continued ranting.

"Two,"

"…And your clothes"

"One!" We kicked our feet up soaking him from head to toe.

His jaw dropped. "You did not just do that,"

I swallowed a bunch of water because I was laughing so hard. I even heard Natsume let out a chuckle, his mouth tugged at the corners.

I coughed before I spoke again

"Ruka! You should see your face" I went under water again because I was laughing to hard. I swam back onto land before I drowned myself.

Natsume came out shortly after—he ran a hand through his messy raven locks. His black shirt clung to his body. I watched as he and Ruka talked for a bit, Natsume even hit him lightly on the shoulder.

_Ba-Thump, Ba-Thump, Ba-Thump._

I felt a blush coming onto my cheeks and I looked away—using the excuse to dry my hair.

_What's wrong with me lately? I keep blushing whenever I see him and my heart rate goes up…_

My hazel orbs widened. _No I can't be… falling for him._

I looked back over at Ruka and Natsume, my orbs locked with his and my breathing stopped.

Natsume gave me a small smirk before looking back at Ruka.

I sat in the cave eating in silence, my mind raced with the new thought, _me liking Natsume…?_

I wanted to confide in Hotaru but now wasn't the time, we were going back to the Koizumi camp in a couple minutes. I didn't have time for silly questions.

I grabbed my pouch and tucked it under my shirt keeping it safe beside me at all times. It was like I had Jii-chan there to comfort me.

We ran back to the spot we were at this morning, Hotaru and Ruka headed back down to the water to wait for us to bring the old man. Then they would come up and we would all ambush Persona, I would control him from using his Alice, and then we would go from there.

Natsume and I waited for sign of the old man.

I let out an uneasy sigh.

"Polka," he whispered "If anything goes wrong, I'll be there to get you"

His crimson orbs locked with mine.

I felt the burning of tears in the back of my throat. I nodded—not trusting my voice to work.

"I'll wait," I managed.

Finally we saw someone coming out of the tent. Natsume cloaked and walked toward the clearing.

I was soon to follow but someone grabbed my wrist—I let out a surprised squeak.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Sakura Princess herself" I heard the old man breath down my neck.

"Why you all alone out here?"

I screamed as he pulled me backward.

Natsume materialized in front of me, I saw it before he did- Persona ran up toward us.

"Natsume!"

"Teleport now!" Persona ordered.

I felt everything becoming very faint.

"Natsume!" I cried, he tried running towards us but Persona grabbed hold of him.

"Mikan!" he looked at me—his eyes filled with determination.

Persona hit the spot on the back of his neck and he fell to the ground—our eyes locked for just a few seconds.

"I'll find you," he said before everything disappeared.

"_Natsume!" _

_

* * *

_

**_Yayy!_**

**Remember to Review**

**Thank you~**

_**bunnyjumps**_

**& Violet spirit **

**for reviewing again ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Luna here,**

**Just wanted to thank everyone who has been following the story, **

**and those of you who have reviewed or added my story to your favs... etc. :D**

**It means alot to me, haha.**

**Enjoy,**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 7:**

* * *

* Natsume's POV*

I stayed crouched in the dark shadow of the trees. I watched the entrance of the tent for any sign of the old man.

_Why can't he just come out already! I'm sick and tired of hiding here._

I heard Mik—I mean Polka let out an uneasy sigh. I turned my crimson orbs and looked at her—she didn't look so good.

"Polka," I whispered "If anything goes wrong. I'll be there to get you"

She looked at me a few moments, her eyes softening.

"I'll wait," she murmured.

I turned my orbs back to the clearing. I saw the tent start to unzip and I glanced back at he before I pressed the button on my bracelet—keeping me hidden from them.

I was about to step out into the clearing when I felt a twist in my stomach.

I heard Polka squeak and I spun around.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Sakura princess herself" I stopped breathing when I saw the old man behind her.

"Why you all alone out here?" he started pulling her backward and she screamed.

I immediately reappeared in front of her ready to burn the man alive.

"Natsume!" I heard the desperation in her voice and I mentally kicked myself for not sensing him earlier.

"Teleport now!" I recognized I was running out of time and I ran forward. She started to become transparent.

"Natsume!" she cried—I was held back by a firm grip.

"Mikan!" I attempted to get out of his grip.

I kept my eyes locked on her terrified hazel orbs.

I felt the man hit the spot on the back of my neck, attempting to knock me out.

"I'll find you," I managed out before I fell on the ground with a heavy thud.

_Mikan…_

* Mikan's POV*

I awoke to a loud thud.

I opened my orbs and jumped as soon as I remembered what had happened. I tugged my arms forward, but I was tied tightly to a chair. I looked around the room—it looked to be like an abandoned shack. The wood was rotting in some areas, and a cool breeze flew throughout the cabin. I pulled at my feet, but that only succeeded in making the ropes tighter.

"_Natsume!" I cried._

"_Mikan!" he yelled._

_Persona hit the back of his neck and he started going down._

"_I'll find you," I heard him say before everything disappeared._

I heard the doorknob rattling and I dropped my head down and closed my eyes.

A cool breeze passed around me and I shivered.

"—What did you do with the boy?" I heard the old man say as he walked into the room.

I kept my breathing even and listened for the response.

"I knocked him out and just left him lying there. He's going to wake up with a killer headache, but he's going to be stuck there for awhile because nobody else knows about him—except the girl" Persona replied with a hint of anger in his voice.

I could feel them standing right in front of me. I squeezed my eyes tighter.

"What do we do with her"

"The Queen wants to speak with her, but we don't need to hand her over right away. I think we need to check her over ourselves and make sure she still doesn't have Alice"

I felt a sharp jab in my arm as Persona dug his nails in. "Starting with this,"

I felt an overwhelming pain spread throughout my body I gasped and my head shot up. Tears streaked down my face.

"Please," I said looking at the old man "Please let me go!" I sobbed.

He walked towards me and grabbed my chin a little to rough. His eyes peered down into me.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said.

I screamed as another jab went into my shoulder. "Stop!" I screamed—pulling against the restraints. Then everything went dark again.

*Flash back*

"_Mommy these strawberries are really good!" I gave her a toothy grin._

"_I bet they are" she stole one from my basket and chewed on it. A smile was lighting up her eyes._

_Today we were going to see Mommies old friend. She was the Queen of the Hyuuga Kingdom! Mommy said that I would get to meet new friends today, I smiled as I watched the scenery outside the carriage._

_New friends! I wonder what they're like._

"_Mi-Chan," I looked over at Daddy. He was leaning forward towards my face._

"_What?" I asked grinning. He motioned for me to come closer so I did._

"_Look at that!" he pulled out a flower from behind my ear and held it up to my face. "You have a flower hiding in your hair"_

_I gasped and grabbed the flower, "What's it doing there?"_

"_Magic," he said. My eyes twinkled._

"_Magic?" I asked my little orbs widened._

"_Yeah," he leaned closer "Don't tell your Mommy though! It'll be our secret" _

_I looked over at Mommy looking out the window. I glanced back over to Daddy and nodded my head viciously. _

_He laughed. "That's my girl"_

"_We're here!" Mommy gasped._

_I looked out my window at the big white castle that lay against the mountains. It had big steps that lead up to the main street and a road that went around up the mountain to the castle—we went that way because Daddy didn't want to walk up all those stairs. I giggled at that._

_We knocked on the door and a maid answered._

"_Welcome, Lady Yuka, King Izumi—daughter Mikan. We have been expecting you, please come in" she stood back and let us through the doors._

_I gasped at how pretty the palace was on the inside._

"_Pretty!" I said spinning around. The maid took our coats and led us to the formal dinning room where the Hyuuga's waited. _

_We walked in and a beautiful long raven-haired lady ran up to Mommy and gave her a big hug. They smiled at each other and started conversation on how the had missed each other. Daddy was busy talking to another man and I peered around his leg._

_I saw a girl a little younger then me, and then there was a boy my age. They both had raven locks and beautiful crimson orbs. _

_The boy looked at me._

"_Go on over," Daddy nudged me forward._

_I walked towards them and put a big smile on._

"_Hi, I'm Mikan!" I smiled at them._

"_My names Aoi Hyuuga!" she replied cheerfully._

"_Nice to meet you Aoi, can I call you Aoi?" I giggled when Aoi shook her head yes. I looked over at the boy again… his crimson orbs were so memorizing._

"_That's my Onii-Chan Natsume Hyuuga" _

"_Nice to meet you Natsume!" I said smiling, "May I call you Natsume?"_

"_Hn" he muttered._

_I frowned and looked back over to Aoi._

"_Onii-Chan's always like that," she said._

"_Oh okay!"_

"_Well, Let's eat we don't want the food to get cold!"_

_I talked to Aoi and Natsume the entire dinnertime and answered some of Aoi's questions about what it was like at Sakura Kingdom. _

"_Maybe Onii-Chan and I can come visit some time!"_

"_Yeah, I could show you our garden!"_

_Mommy called my name and I talked to her for awhile, while Aoi discussed with Natsume._

"_I forgot about Karin-chan!" I heard Aoi scream. The next thing I knew I was being dragged upstairs with her._

"_Ao—Aoi! Where are we going?"_

"_I found a bird that hurt its wing this morning! I've been watching over it. Right now Onii-chan is getting his friend who knows a lot about animals to help fix its wing"_

_We walked into her room and she brought me over to the bed. _

_I peered down into the box and was shown the bird she was taking care of._

"_Aww!" I said, "poor Karin-chan"_

_A blonde haired boy with sapphire orbs ran into the room and headed over to us with the bird. Natsume followed soon after._

_The blonde boy looked at me and introduced himself._

"_I'm Ruka Nogi"_

_I smiled. "I'm Mikan Sakura"_

"_Nice to meet you, Sakura"_

_I nodded my head and watched as he carefully bandaged the bird's wing up._

"_Karin-chan will be better in no time, just remember to feed her"_

"_Wow!" I said in awe, "It's so cool that you can talk to animals" I said after I was told that his Alice was Animal Pheromone. _

_He smiled at me. "Yeah,"_

"_What about you, Mikan?" he asked, "What's your Alice?"_

_I looked down at my shoes._

"_Actually I don't have Alice yet" I replied._

"_What really?"_

"_Yeah," I nodded my head._

_We were quiet for awhile and then Mommy came up and told me it was time to go._

_I said a cheerful good bye to Aoi, Natsume and Ruka before I left._

_* End of Flash back*_

My hazel orbs widened.

_Natsume…?_

I knew Natsume when I was younger? Why don't I remember this… his young self popped into my mind. How could I have forgotten about going some place so amazing?

I looked around the room and sighed. At least they weren't here to torture me half to death.

They said they were trying to find out if I had Alice. Persona must be using something against my body to make it hurt so much but I'm not sure on what it is. But I know I can't use my Alice until I get rescued.

"_I'll find you,"_

I closed my eyes and tears threatened to spill over. I hope that he can find where I am.

My eyes widened in shock how could I be so stupid!

_Hotaru had given me a tracking sticker! They know where I am._

I smiled with the realization, Natsume would be coming to get me—I just know it.

"_You've done it already with the first one, 'To protect'. The two others are 'To believe', and 'To lov—" she broke off and flickered and started dissolving._

"_What are the other two!" I yelled at her._

"…_Remember to return them inside you—as you already have with the first," I heard her whisper before she disappeared completely._

I remembered the Alice Stones in the pouch suddenly. I felt a tingling sensation against my stomach.

There was a very cold touch and then I felt it sink down against my skin—like it was melting then I no longer felt the sensation.

I blinked.

_What was that?_

*Natsume's POV*

I felt someone shaking my shoulder and I snapped my eyes open.

"Mikan!" I yelled out. I frantically looked around.

Imai and Ruka sat in front of me watching me with sad eyes.

"When did I get back to the cave?" I asked.

"We brought you back here when we found you lying unconscious in front of the campsite" Ruka said slowly, "When we got there, Sakura was no where to be found. And there wasn't a trace of the Koizumi"

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as he said the last part. I punched the wall beside me in frustration.

"I should have stopped them" I growled hitting the wall with my other fist.

"There was nothing you could've done, Natsume. You were knocked unconscious by them"

"What happened," Imai's cold voice muttered. She held a steady gaze on me "I want details"

I told her exactly what had happened up to the point I blacked out.

Imai swore.

"What about the tracking signal?" Ruka asked. My eyes widened—I forgot about the tracking sticker. The look on Imai's face made me realize she too had forgot.

She pulled out her radar and looked at the screen, she programmed it to play back from the time that Polka got taken to now.

We watched the small red dot moved from the one spot on the screen, and moves about 2 miles north. The red dot sat there pulsing.

"The older man had the Teleport Alice," I murmured.

"That would explain how they move 2 miles so quickly," Ruka said.

I frowned and watched the red dot.

"What are we going to do?" I said.

"We need a plan," Imai said "A good plan" she narrowed her eyes.

We stayed up talking about possible ways to get into the area with out being detected. The cloak would come in perfect for this situation. Imai and Ruka are going to take out the Old man with the help of her inventions and Ruka's animals.

Then I would bust inside and take out Persona.

I narrowed my eyes.

_If that bastard hurt her, I'm going to show no mercy._

I lay on the ground trying to relax my tense muscles and go to sleep. Eventually I welcomed the darkness in and I went into a deep sleep.

"_Soo?" Aoi asked peering down at me._

"_What do you want" I looked up at her._

"_Do you like Mikan-chan?"_

_I glared at her._

"_Ooh! You do," she danced around me "Onii-chan and Mikan-chan sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S—"_

_I clamped my hand down over her mouth._

"_Shut up, I don't like her. I just met her"_

_Her crimson orbs twinkled mischiefly._

_I sighed and sat back down._

"_Well," she said poking my cheek._

"_What are you going to do then?"_

_I glared at her again._

"_Who says I'm going to do anything?" I muttered._

_She laughed and waltzed back to her room. _

_I sighed._

_Annoying sister I thought._

_I smirked—thinking of the young brunette._

"_What to do, huh" I said to myself._

I opened my eyes, staring straight ahead. A picture of a young bubbly brunette popped into my mind…

_That girl… was Polka?_

*Mikan's POV*

I screamed out in pain.

"Stop it!" I begged. Tears streamed down my cheeks constantly.

Persona answered my begging with even more pain.

"I have the Alice of Death," he whispered darkly into my ear.

I cowered down into my chair, I wished I could just disappear.

"Stop it," I whispered.

I closed my eyes tight when he ran a sharp fingernail down my bar arm. I line of scarlet dripped down and onto the floor. I bit back another scream, but a whimper still managed to escape my lips.

_Natsume! _I screamed in my head. I thought of the time I had got hit with his fireball during practice.

I was surprised that I didn't feel pain.

"Why doesn't it hurt?" I asked.

"I'm not choosing my Alice to be painful when it hits you," he muttered.

Who thought he could be so nice I thought to myself.

I whimpered again, as he sliced open my cheek. Now what he was doing was just sick and wrong!

He pulled back on the ropes digging my back into the sharp wooden frame.

I cried out in pain.

"Stop it!" I screamed.

"Try to make me," he smiled evilly.

My eyes were red and soar from crying too much when Persona finally decided he had had enough for today. He walked out of the cabin and I shivered to myself.

The old man walked in with a small bowl and cup.

I pushed back against the chair.

"Get away from me," I whispered.

He held the bowl under my face.

"Food," he said.

My stomach rumbled in response. He held the water to my lips and I took greedy gulps.

He spoon feed me oatmeal then quickly disappeared back out of the cabin.

I felt the fabric of the pouch clinging to the sweat on my skin.

_Natsume, Please hurry…_

* Natsume's POV*

_Natsume, Please hurry…_

My eyes snapped open at the sound of Polkas voice.

"Polka…?"

I looked around the cave, but there was nothing.

I glanced at the still sleeping forms of Hotaru and Ruka cuddled in each other's arms.

I slowly got up – grabbing my stuff I walked quietly down to the lake and had a quick shower. I pulled on a loose white T-shirt and jeans. I sat on the stone and thought of all the times that Polka and I had sat out here bickering with each other.

I dipped my fingers into the water and looked up as Ruka sat down next to me. He was freshly showered—his hair still glistened with little drops of water.

"Hey man," he murmured "How you holding up"

"I want to burn them to a crisp" I growled.

He let out a small chuckle.

"You love her," his sapphire orbs looked at me "don't you?"

I looked down at our reflection in the water. I dragged a hand through my messy raven locks before answering him.

"…I want to protect her from anything that stands in her way. I want to be the one she calls for when she needs help," I looked back at my best friend "I've never felt this way about a girl before"

He gave me a small reassuring smile "We'll get her back,"

"I know," I muttered "Can we stop with the mushy talk now, Its making me feel all gross"

Ruka snorted and clapped my shoulder. "Sure thing"

_Natsume…_

I looked back at Ruka. "Did you say something?"

He shook his head frowning. He got up and headed back towards the cave.

"Hotaru says were going in a little bit, we need to pack up" he stopped "We're going to find a new place to camp out at, then I think we're going to try getting back to your Kingdom"

I put my hand up showing that I heard him, he turned around again and disappeared back into the trees.

_Natsume… I know you'll come for me. I'm waiting… _Polka's voice whispered quietly in my head.

_Mikan, _I thought._ I'll be there…_

I felt her warmth flowing through me. I closed my eyes remembering the smell of strawberries in her hair, the way he big hazel orbs would look at me when I talked to her.

_Wait for me, _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 7, finished~**

**Remember to Review.**

**Thanks too,**

**bunnyjumps**

**Kylee-Cat**

**& Ashia Yifei 07**

**Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter, ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, sorry for late(ish) update. Couldn't think of anything to write about...**

**Anyways enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 8:**

**

* * *

**

*** **Natsume's POV*

Ruka and I packed up all our things in the cave. I grabbed a bunch of towels and put them with the rest of the bath things. I looked down at the spot where Polka usually slept—It was right beside Imai and me.

I grabbed her things and put them into the empty bag beside me. I left Ruka to grab the rest of the things.

I took the bags and set them on top of Imai's floating car—Ruka came over and throw two more bags up.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered "I'm going to get Hotaru and tell her we're ready to go"

"Make sure to bring the shower," I called after him. He waved a hand up—showing that he heard what I said.

Imai had worked on a new invention last night to help with carrying the really heavy stuff, like the shower. I was glad that we were bringing the shower along—staying out here for the past couple days have done wonders for my hygiene. I was so glad that we would, hopefully, be out of here after getting Mik- Polka back.

I thought of my mom and dad's faces when I came back through the door. I could just picture them having a fit. Then Aoi would come down stairs and give me one of her big annoying hugs, smile at me and ask where I've been.

Ruka and Imai came into view pulling the shower behind them on her invention. I sighed as they came and tied the machine to the back of the floating car.

"We ready?" Imai said.

She started tinkering with the floating car and it sped off "I set it to wait for us 10 minutes away from the spot Mikan is"

We started jogging down the trail. I looked back at the lake and saw a little flicker of her sitting there on the rock, her beautiful long chestnut hair falling down onto her back.

_Mikan, I'm coming…_

* Mikan's POV*

I peeled my soar red eyes open. I turned my head around and noticed I was alone again.

I broke down and starting sobbing quietly. _Why were they doing this to me?_

My wrists were raw and bleeding from the ropes digging into my skin for the past day. I wiggled my hands trying to move the ropes down. I only succeeded in digging the ropes in harder. I stopped my attempt and let my hands drop back down.

"Owwww!" I cried.

I glanced at the rotting wood of the shack. Outside was still really dark out, from the looks of it—It looked like it was 4 in the morning. I looked around again.

An old bunk was pushed up against the far wall, the rusted legs looked like they were ready to collapse.

Then the door to the shack was held closed with a big chain and lock on the outside. I saw the door start to slowly creak open. I looked down at my toes—I didn't want to see Persona coming.

I bit down on my lip as I saw feet in front of my own. I hesitantly raised my head and looked at the man in front of me.

The old man held a bowl of peeled oranges under my nose.

I raised my eyebrow but didn't say anything.

_What does he want?_

I watched him pick up a slice. The smell came off as way to bitter, and my nose crinkled with the smell.

He pushed it against my lips.

"Open" he said.

I opened my lips and I chewed the sour tasting fruit.

He pushed another one in—I debated on biting his finger, but didn't want him to go running to Persona.

"Keep eating," he said coldly. He gave me another orange.

I narrowed my eyes as I chewed.

"You know," he said setting the bowl down on an old desk "Your lucky to have escaped back then. But your luck has run out, no ones coming to get you. You're stuck here with us and then your going to be killed" He glared at me.

"Your friend is left dying and lost out in the woods. He isn't going to come rescue you even if he had the chance to. He's probably going to just leave you here to be stuck with your fate. He's probably glad your gone"

_Natsume…_ I knew what he was saying wasn't true because Natsume was with Hotaru and Ruka. They would have found him by now, and… I heard him. It's weird, because I don't really get it. But I think the weird thing that I felt with against my stomach, was actually another Alice Stone going in… and I think that's why I can hear him.

"…Your either going to die here from Persona. Or the Queen will just kill you off like what happened with your Parent's" he continued on.

"What!" I said my head shooting up. My hazel orbs flashed dangerously at the old man.

He smirked.

"Finally got a reaction from you, huh?" he leaned down towards my face, his awful breath choking me.

"That's right, the Queen ordered the death of you and your parent's. Only that night 10 years ago we only succeeded in getting your parents. You were no where that we could get to" he spat.

"We got punished for not getting you, and its all your fault!" I shook as he said the last part. He brought a hand hard down onto my face and pushed me back with the force of the slap. I turned my head shakily back towards him. Tears threatened to fall.

_No! I will not cry in front of him._

He left a couple minutes later.

After I heard the lock set into place and I screamed out in frustration, _why am I being treated like this!_

I pulled at the ropes with my fingers—attempting to pull the strings and make it unravel. I glanced behind my shoulder, peering at the ropes.

I gasped when I caught a glimpse of my bleeding arms. There was crusty blood all over my arms and deep black and blue marks pressed all over me.

I turned my head and looked at my other arm, tears bit at the back of my throat. My arms were literally covered in new and old blood, they were bruised from Persona grabbing me and using his Alice.

I trembled as I looked back toward the door. A gust of wind came and shook the old shack, rattling the chains and making a creepy noise.

I hurt so badly, first it was the ropes digging into my raw skin, and then it was Persona's torture. Then the old man comes and hits me across the face, and mentally stabbed me right to my heart with telling me about my parent's death.

My dad and mom's smiling faces popped into my head.

_Mi-Chan, don't stop smiling. We're always going to love you no matter what._

I dropped my head and started crying. My tears leaving streaks down my cheeks.

I wanted to use my Alice to stop this. I was so tempted to just use Nullification—just to stop his Alice from pulsing against my bruised skin, but I knew as soon as I did that, Persona would have a knife jabbed right through me.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to go to sleep so I could heal as much as I could during the time I was asleep. My body complained against it for a couple minutes, but finally gave in and I drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep.

* 3 hours later*

"Wake up!" He screamed down into my ear. I snapped my orbs open as he grabbed my hair and pulled my head backward. I looked straight into his piercing orbs—I trembled with fear.

"I'm sick of seeing those ugly eyes," Persona gave me a disgusted look.

He let go of my hair and I pulled my head back up straight. I screamed as he pushed a gag into my mouth and a big black cloth was tied tightly over my orbs.

I shook with fear. This was worse then seeing him doing it. Now I don't know when he was going to hit me, or where he was. My breathing increased and I begged myself not to throw up.

I listened as his footsteps moved around me. They stopped again to my left—I automatically moved away from him.

He laughed and pulled me back towards him.

"I'm not letting you get away from me," he growled coldly.

He dragged his finger down my arm and continued to walk around me. He kept digging his nails into my shoulder every time I whimpered through the gag.

"Your so weak" he spat.

"You can't do anything special, no wonder no one stays around you!"

The fabric was wet from my tears. I gave a muffled scream when he jabbed his nails down into my arm and let his Alice flow into me.

He continued stabbing my arms and slicing my cheeks for the next hour. I flexed my soar arms.

"Your pathetic," Persona ranted.

I mentally glared at him and forced myself not to activate Nullification.

_You're the pathetic one! You can't even look me in the eyes when you do this. You're the one who tied me against this chair, keeping me from fighting back._

_You're a monster! _I screamed in my head.

He seemed to understand what I was thinking and let his Alice flow into me again.

I thrashed in the chair and sobbed, I tried to get away—but that didn't succeed at all.

He gave a sick laugh and drew warm scarlet down my arm—I gasped in pain.

_This cut was much deeper than the other ones!_

_Natsume! _I yelled in my mind. _Please, Please hurry!_

_Mikan! Hold on, I'm almost there._

I screamed against the fabric in my mouth.

_Natsume… I—It hurts._

_Mikan, hold on—please, don't give up!_

I felt Persona tugging my hair.

_Please… _I begged in my head. Praying that he didn't touch my hair any longer.

"You have disgusting long hair," he tugged it again for emphasis.

I trembled against his touch.

His hand dropped from my hair and I sighed in relief.

I heard a heavy thud against the door and I tried to peer through the blind fold. I mentally cursed at him for covering my eyes. The door rattled again, and I heard the chains snap and the door-cracked open. I heard a large bang and guessed that would have been the door falling off the hinges.

_Mikan,_

Tears streamed down my face and I thanked the Gods for my rescue to have arrived.

"You—how are you here!" Persona growled.

"You bastard!" I heard Natsume hiss.

The room's temperature increased dramatically and I called my Nullification.

I pictured Persona standing behind me and I wrapped my Alice around him. I gritted my teeth when I felt him resist against my barrier.

"What the—" I felt Persona glaring at me.

"Touch her once more and see what happens," his tone dripped with venom.

I heard Persona run past me and I heard something crash against the wall. I held my Alice against Persona, and I imagined adding another layer of barrier around him.

I heard him grunt and another crash just to my left. I felt heat radiating from that area.

"What the hell!" Persona grunted.

"This is Karma," Natsume growled.

I heard a pained scream and a big thud. I listened closely—a silence stretched out for a few seconds, then I heard rushed footsteps heading towards me.

The ropes heated against my skin and I felt them fall to the ground, my blind fold slipped off my head. The gag was pulled from my lips.

I opened my hazel orbs and stared at the crimson-eyed boy in front of me. I trembled in my seat and tears streamed down my face.

"Mikan," he muttered softly.

"Natsume!" I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck. He embraced me tightly.

"Natsume," I sobbed against his shoulder.

He ran his fingers through my hair and pulled me closer towards him.

"You're alright now," he whispered "No one is going to hurt you any more"

I cried against him –holding his T- shirt close to my face. I breathed in his musty scent and let my tense muscles go slack.

I passed out in his arms.

*Natsume's POV*

_Natsume! _Polka's voice screamed. _Please, Please hurry!_

_Mikan! Hold on, I'm almost there._

I ran around the bend and saw the small cabin pushed back against the trees. We ran faster and saw the Old man sitting by the fire. Imai and Ruka ran up to him and started gang beating him. I wrapped my fire around his legs keeping him from teleporting.

_Natsume… I—It hurts._

_Mikan, hold on—please, don't give up!_

I saw a heavy chain wound around the old door and I ran for it. I turned to my side and threw my shoulder against the flimsy old wood. I cursed when the splinters cut into my arm. I backed up and made another run for the door, I throw all my weight against it and felt the wood snap. The door fell onto the floor inside the cabin.

My orbs widened as they rested on a small brunette tied to a chair blindfolded. My eyes drifted down to her arms and I gasped at the sight of all the blood and the bruise marks on her body.

_Mikan,_

Tears streamed down her face and I felt my body temperature raised as I glared dangerously at the man standing behind her. I stepped into the shack.

"You—how are you here!" Persona growled.

"You bastard!" I hissed.

I lit my fire up and the heat of the room jumped up.

I saw her orange glow wrapping around the bastard.

"What the—" Persona glared at her.

"Touch her once more and see what happens," his tone dripped with venom.

Persona ran towards me and I crashed against the wall from his sudden body weight. I pushed against his body and grappled with him a moment.

I heard him grunt and I pushed him into a desk against the wall. I raised my fire and burned the table and let it seep onto his clothes.

"What the hell!" Persona grunted.

"This is Karma," I growled.

He gave a pained scream and fell to the ground with a big thud. I stared at his burnt body for a few seconds, and then I rushed towards the brunette.

I burned the ropes and they fell to the ground, I grabbed the blindfold off her head and took the cloth out of her mouth.

She opened her eyes up slowly and I looked at her red puffy hazel orbs.

_That bastard! How dare he hurt my Polka._

She trembled in her seat and tears streamed down her face.

"Mikan," I muttered.

"Natsume!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck. I embraced her tightly.

"Natsume," she sobbed against my shoulder. I ran my fingers through her tangled hair and pulled her closer towards my body.

"You're alright now," I whispered "No one is going to hurt you any more"

She cried against me, she gripped tightly onto my shirt. She relaxed against me and then I felt her legs buckle.

"Mikan!"

I picked her up bridal style, and carried her limp body back to Imai and Ruka.

They gasped when they saw her bruised and bloody body.

"Mikan! Sakura!" Imai and Ruka ran towards us.

"What happened?" they asked.

"I think she passed out," I said staring at her bloody face.

"And Persona?" Imai asked.

"Dead," I said narrowing my orbs as the image of him touching Mikan popped into my mind.

She sighed.

"Ok," she looked at Mikan's limp form "At least we got her back"

"Yeah," Ruka murmured.

We walked back to where Imai had her floating car hidden. We headed down the trail away from the direction of our old cave and the shack that Mikan was held at.

I looked at her pale face and lightly pushed a stray hair away. From this day on, I'm not going to let her out of my sight. I'm going to protect her from anything that stands in her way—I'm going to dry her tears when she's sad...

All this for the one I loved.

*Mikan's POV*

*10 hours later*

I opened my eyes and I was greeted by crimson.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and gingerly sat up.

We looked at each other for a few moments.

"How do you feel?" he asked me.

"Sore," I mumbled caressing the bandages wrapped around my arms. He lightly touched my other arm.

_Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Ba-thump._

"I'm glad your okay," he whispered so quietly I wasn't even sure he said anything.

I gave him a little smile.

"So am I," I shivered when I remember Persona touching me. I tentatively touched my sore cheek.

"What happened to them?" I asked quietly. I looked into his crimson pools.

"There gone,"

My throat burned and I looked down. Tears threatened to fall down my face but I refused to cry again.

I felt his hand against my cheek.

I looked up.

"Mikan…" Tears ran down my face and I rested my head against his shoulder. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me onto his lap.

He ran his fingers through my hair messy chestnut hair.

_Mikan, _I looked into his eyes.

He caught a tear with his finger.

_Don't cry._

I sniffled, nodding my head.

He held my cheek in his hand. A light pink colored my cheeks.

_Natsume… thank you for coming for me._

_Natsume I—_

He flicked my forehead lightly.

_Of course I would come, _

I smiled.

_Stupid little girl… _I smacked his arm lightly and dropped my head back onto his shoulder.

I soon fell asleep again—curled up against the guy I loved.

* * *

**Chapter 8 done.**

**Remember to review~**

**And thanks too,**

**Violet spirit**

**VeronicaLover123**

**& Kylee-Cat for reviewing the last chapter.**

**:D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello people ;)**

**I had fun writing this chapter, hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 9:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

I opened my eyes and I was greeted by crimson.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and gingerly sat up.

We looked at each other for a few moments.

"How do you feel?" he asked me.

"Sore," I mumbled caressing the bandages wrapped around my arms. He lightly touched my other arm.

_Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Ba-thump._

"I'm glad your okay," he whispered so quietly I wasn't even sure he said anything.

I gave him a little smile.

"So am I," I shivered when I remember Persona touching me. I tentatively touched my sore cheek.

"What happened to them?" I asked quietly. I looked into his crimson pools.

"There gone,"

My throat burned and I looked down. Tears threatened to fall down my face but I refused to cry again.

I felt his hand against my cheek.

I looked up.

"Mikan…" Tears ran down my face and I rested my head against his shoulder. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me onto his lap.

He ran his fingers through my hair messy chestnut hair.

_Mikan, _I looked into his eyes.

He caught a tear with his finger.

_Don't cry._

I sniffled, nodding my head.

He held my cheek in his hand. A light pink colored my cheeks.

_Natsume… thank you for coming for me._

_Natsume I—_

He flicked my forehead lightly.

_Of course I would come, _

I smiled.

_Stupid little girl… _I smacked his arm lightly and dropped my head back onto his shoulder.

I soon fell asleep again—curled up against the guy I loved.

"…Mikan"

I mumbled in my dreamy state. Cuddling my head in the crook of Natsume's neck, he let out a sigh in response.

"Daughter Mikan, wake up" I lifted my head and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Natsume, did you say something?" his crimson orbs opened and he looked at me.

"No," he replied shifting me in his arms. I blushed with the action.

"…Mikan. The pouch, take it out"

I blinked and looked at Natsume, he gave me a puzzled look. I lifted the hem of my shirt and pulled the pouch out.

The blue stone slipped from the seal and levitated in front of us.

I gasped.

"Do you see that?" I asked him wide eyed.

He nodded.

The stone gave off a bright blue light—I lifted my hand to my orbs.

"Well done, daughter. You have succeeded in returning the stones back to you. You have finally unlocked the power that has always been within you," a beautiful girl's face appeared before us.

_Oracle!_

"I hope this brings you happiness, and that you stay strong through everything that may come between you," she said.

The blue stone lifted up higher and the light intensified. I looked away as Natsume covered his orbs. The stone pressed against my chest and I felt the wet sensation against my skin before it disappeared completely.

I looked back up at the fading face of the Oracle.

"Good bye, Daughter" her voice faded and she was gone.

I looked at Natsume with wide eyes.

"Mikan…" he murmured—his brow furrowed.

"Your glowing blue," he stated.

I looked down at my bandaged arms and noticed a light blue surrounding them.

"What the…" I touched my arm. I didn't feel the sharp pain of the cuts anymore.

"Help me get these off," I asked pointing to the bandages.

"Are you sure? You were hurt pretty badly"

I nodded unwrapping the knot. Natsume's hands pulled the bandages down just a little way.

I gasped.

"Do you see that?" I asked, my voice filled with disbelief.

We pulled the bandages completely off and we stared in shock at my arms. There was absolutely no cuts, scars anything on my arms to show what had happened to me yesterday.

I pulled the bandage off my cheek and from the look of shock and confusion drawn in his eyes, I'm guessing there was nothing on my cheek either.

I opened my pouch and noticed there was nothing in there. I showed Natsume and we looked at each other.

"The first was, Nullification…" he murmured.

"Try talking to me again in your head,"

_Okay, can you hear me? _I giggled.

_Yup, so that means the second is Telepathy. _

I smiled, nodding my head.

"Then your wounds, they were really deep and would have taken awhile to heal fully. That and there would definitely be scars left," we looked at my milky white skin, "But theirs nothing,"

"I have an idea!" I randomly burst out.

"What?"

I slide off his lap and grabbed a knife from one of the food bags. I sat down in front of him again.

"What are you do—" I held out my hand palm up and brought the knife down to slash my palm.

Natsume grabbed my wrist stopping my hand in mid air.

"Mikan! What the hell are you doing?" he yelled.

"I'm trying to cut myself so I can see if I heal" I rolled my eyes.

"By slashing your palm open!" he glared at me, "You IDIOT! Just cut the tip of you finger"

I hmphed and pressed the point of the knife into the pad of my index finger. A bead of scarlet popped to the surface and started dripping down the length of my finger.

I looked at my finger watching the blood for a minute before looking back at the source of it. I imagined the skin healing itself and closing the small wound.

"Did it work?" he asked peering down at my finger.

I shrugged.

I brought my finger to my lips and licked the blood off. I stared at my finger in amazement—there was nothing there except the tinge of red.

"Healing Alice" we both mumbled. We looked up at each other.

I laughed and showed him a big smile.

"This is so cool! Do you think I could regenerate limbs if they fell off?" I raised the knife back up for emphasis.

He let out a small nervous laugh and grabbed my hand with the knife. The sudden contact surprised me—I let the knife slip out of my fingers.

We stared at each other. My breathing hitched as I realized just how close we were.

Our fingers intertwined.

_Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Ba-thump._

_Natsume… _I stared into his beautiful crimson orbs—and he stared back into mine.

His fingers traced lightly down my jaw line. My gaze dropped to his lips that were just inches away from mine—my orbs looked back into his. I saw a hint of emotion in them but wasn't sure of what I saw.

He pulled me close and his tender lips crashed down onto mine. My face flushed and I closed my eyes—relaxing against him. I slowly started to respond back to the kiss.

My heartbeat had started increasing so dramatically I was sure he could feel it.

We pulled away and stared at each other. My cheeks pink.

The corner of his lips tugged upward.

_Mikan…_

I studied his face.

"Natsume…" I whispered—my orbs widened with the realization.

_He just kissed me! … And I kissed him_

My stomach did somersaults.

"Mikan I, I lo—" he looked at me.

"Sakura!" I looked over at the cave entrance. Ruka and Hotaru walked in carrying a small bucket of water and more bandages.

_I'll tell you later, _his voice said quietly.

…_Ok_

"We have to change you—" he gaped at the bandages lying on the ground.

"Why aren't you wearing your bandages!" He ran towards me Hotaru trailing behind.

Hotaru's eyes widened.

She bent down and examined my arm. Her eyes looked at me they were filled with confusion.

"Explain," she said coolly.

"Ok, I was sitting here with Natsume and the blue stone levitated. Then this Oracle started talking saying that I had finally got all three stones back inside of me, and I unlocked the power that has always been inside me. Then the blue stone went inside me" I took a breath and continued on "So… I have the Nullification, Telepathy, and healing Alice. Then theirs the one that always been inside me,"

She glanced over at the knife that was lying in front of me, a hint of my blood still on the blade.

She raised an eyebrow.

She turned to Natsume "Did she try doing what I think she did?"

His eyes glanced towards me.

My heart fluttered again. He glanced back at Hotaru and smirked.

"Yup,"

Hotaru gave me a disapproving look.

"I think we should hide the knife," Ruka sweat dropped.

"He-Hey!" I called out.

"Good idea," Natsume snorted.

I glared over at him. His crimson orbs stared back at me and I blushed. I turned my head back to Hotaru—she gave Natsume and me a weird look.

"Oh, hey" Ruka said looking at Natsume "You want to help me set the shower up?"

"Sure," he stood up—his gaze lingered on me before he left out of the room after Ruka.

After they left we sat in silence. Hotaru lounged on the floor beside me.

She twirled a piece of straw between her fingers.

"So, what's going on between you and Hyuuga lately?" she asked me, her eyes flashed up towards me giving me a questioning stare.

"Well, I… like him, a lot" I said blushing.

"That was obvious," she said I gaped at her, "Why were you so close to each other when we first came back?"

I looked down at my fingers.

"He kissed me," I whispered—blushing when I remembered his soft lips against mine. I touched my bottom lip with my index finger.

"You guys what?" she said sitting up.

"We kissed,"

"Then what?"

"Then we were looking at each other and he said Mikan I, I lo—. Then you guys came in and he told me through telepathy he would tell me later"

I finished—blushing a deeper shade of red.

She smirked.

"Wha—what's with that face?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Nothing," she tossed a bag of potatoes at me "Let's get dinner ready"

I peeled the potatoes in silence thinking to myself.

*Natsume's POV*

I grabbed the opposite end of the shower from Ruka.

"On three,"

"One,"

"Two," I gripped the edges tightly.

"Three" we grunted from the weight of the shower but proceeded to keep pulling it up until we had it nestled in between two pine trees. Making the shower completely hidden and totally private.

I sighed and plopped down on the grass.

I looked over past the pine trees. The view wasn't as amazing as our last campsite, but there was a bunch of rocks scattered up along a hill. It was kind of like giant steps going up the side of it.

The rocks made me remember the stone ledge back at the old site, where Mikan and me would sit and talk. Then thinking of her made me remember the kiss.

A blush formed on my cheeks and I quickly directed my mind back to other things.

"So," Ruka muttered. He pulled himself down against the trunk of a tree.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on between you and Sakura. Made any progress yet?" he asked chuckling lightly.

"Actually, I kissed her before you guys came" Ruka gasped, "And I was about to tell her I loved her, but then some one" I narrowed my eyes at him "Came into the cave"

"Sorry man," he laughed nervously.

"But you seriously kissed her?" he asked changing the subject.

"Yeah…"

"Nice job, Natsume!" his sapphire orbs twinkled, "When you going to tell her you love her?"

"When I get the chance to" I muttered.

"Why not tonight?"

I looked up at him, and gave him a 'What do you mean' look.

"Wait for her on the rocks back there," he pointed to the giant steps.

"When she leaves to have her shower, use the telepathy thing you guys can do and tell her to meet you there"

I looked up at the darkening sky. "Maybe,"

I looked back at him. "Just keep Imai away from us with her inventions,"

Ruka sweat dropped.

"I know I know," he said.

I good smell caught my attention. Ruka seemed to notice it to.

"Let's go back," I said standing up.

"Yeah,"

We walked back inside the cave and we were greeted by the smell of mashed potatoes and corn.

"Didn't put poison in it I hope," I said plopping down beside the brunette.

She glared at me. "Just for you," her hazel orbs twinkled from the reflection of the fire.

I smirked.

She handed me a plate and I scarfed it down—surprising myself by how hungry I actually was. These two were pretty good cooks, if I do say so myself.

"This is delicious," Ruka said looking up at Imai and Mikan.

"Hehe," Mikan rubbed the back of her head "It was actually Hotaru that did most of the cooking. I just cut them up"

"But still," Ruka mumbled, taking another mouthful.

We continued eating, and talking about what to do on our way back to my Kingdom.

"Mikan, go have your shower first" Imai said.

"Hmm, okay" she looked at Ruka and me, "Is that ok with you two?"

We nodded our heads.

"Okay," she stood up and grabbed her bag of things.

_Mikan, when your done meet me at the stones behind the shower. _I directed my thoughts towards her.

She looked at me when she passed.

_Okay! _She gave me a small smile and left the room.

Ruka and Imai gave me a knowing look.

I glared at them.

Imai snorted and went back to tinkering with an invention.

Ruka shook his head and lay down against the rocky floor.

After about 5 minutes I got up.

"Good luck," Ruka whispered as I passed.

"Hn"

I headed towards the stone steps, making sure I made a detour around the shower.

I saw a low stone ledge that wasn't that high up and climbed on top.

I laid down with my feet dangling down the sides. I looked up at the darkened night sky, the stars were shinning extremely bright and I felt a tingling of excitement pass through me.

I lit a small flame on my fingers and let it dance above my head making a little light show for my entertainment.

"That looks really pretty," her angelic voice wrapped around me. I sat up and saw the outline of her in front of me—I lit a flame right above us so I could see her.

Her hair was still dripping with water and she was looking at me expectantly.

I reached my hand down to her—she held onto me and I pulled her up on the ledge beside me.

I let my fire go out for a moment leaving us in darkness—I sat facing her.

I lit a small flame beside us just to give off light to see each other. I didn't want Imai to come running with her video camera.

I sighed.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it full out" I whispered looking into her hazel orbs. I intertwined my fingers with hers.

"Mikan, when I first met you, I thought you were one of the stupidest clumsiest girl's I've ever met," she made a face at that, "But then I got to talk to you more and I learned that you were actually really caring, and loving. You can brighten my day by just smiling at me, or giving me one of your pathetic glares"

I exhaled and looked back at her.

"And that's what I love about you," her eyes widened.

Tears started dripping down her cheeks, I wiped one away with my finger.

"Mikan, I love you"

I pulled her into a tight embrace.

I closed my eyes—my stomach was doing somersaults as I waited for her reply.

"Natsume," I looked back at her "…I love you too"

My eyes widened and I gave her a small smile.

I pressed my lips down gently onto hers—I felt her smile and kiss me back shortly after.

We walked back to the cave hand in hand.

*Mikan's POV*

"Mikan, go have your shower first" Hotaru said waking me from my daydream.

"Hmm, okay" I looked back to Natsume and Ruka, "Is that ok with you two?"

They nodded their heads, and I stood up. I reached for my bag of toiletries

"Okay,"

_Mikan, when your done meet me at the stones behind the shower. _I heard Natsume murmur.

I looked down at him when I walked past him.

_Okay! _I smiled and left the room.

I found the shower hidden in between two big pine trees.

"Well this is private," I murmured stepping into the stall. I turned on the water and let it wash away all the left over dried blood. I let my nose fill with the smell of strawberries.

I wonder what Natsume wants to talk about… I tentatively touched my lips blushing.

_Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Ba-thump._

_Heart calm down! _I turned off the water and pulled on a pair of sweats and a comfy black T-shirt.

I left the stall and looked for the rocks Natsume had been talking about. A flicker of moving light caught my eye, I followed towards that and soon enough I was watching the light show his fire was giving off.

"That looks really pretty," I said. He sat up and I saw the outline of him sitting on the ledge—a flame popped up right above us and I was able to see his face.

I looked at him expectantly.

He reached a hand down— I grabbed it and was pulled up on the ledge beside him.

The fire disappeared leaving us in darkness—I sat waiting.

A small flame lit up our features.

He sighed.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it full out" He whispered looking into my orbs. He intertwined his fingers with my own.

"Mikan, when I first met you, I thought you were one of the stupidest clumsiest girl's I've ever met," she made a face at that, "But then I got to talk to you more and I learned that you were actually really caring, and loving. You can brighten my day by just smiling at me, or giving me one of your pathetic glares"

He breathed out and looked back at me.

_Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Ba-thump._

"And that's what I love about you," my eyes widened.

Tears started dripping down my cheeks, he caught a tear that was running down.

"Mikan, I love you"

He pulled me into a tight embrace.

My heart was beating so quickly I could hardly breath. A blush appeared on my cheeks.

"Natsume," I managed to say. He looked back at me, "…I love you too"

His eyes widened and he gave me a small smile.

He leaned down towards me and pressed his lips gently onto mine—I smiled and kissed him back.

We pulled away shortly after that. He jumped off the ledge and helped me down—we intertwined fingers and walked back to the cave.

* * *

**This chapters done~ Remember to Review**

**Thanks too,**

** Hitsugaya1995**

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**& VeronicaLover123 Thank you soo much for your reviews :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm soooo sorry for this ****extremely**** late review. I've been so busy with school it isn't even funny.**

**I wrote an extra long chapter just for you guys!**

**PS. I'll say it again, but um, I have another exam coming up so I need to study so the next update may be in like maybe 5 days? (Possibly sooner)**

**Thanks for understanding.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 10:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

I slowly opened my tired hazel orbs. I stared at the owner of the messy raven locks lying beside me—my brow furrowed in confusion.

_What… _I blinked and refocused on the raven hair.

I pulled myself up quickly. _Natsume! _

I blushed as last nights memories ran through my head. I slowly leaned back down against his chest, careful not to wake him. I exhaled and breathed in his musty scent—I studied his handsome face.

"_Mikan, I love you" _

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

His brow furrowed and his crimson eyes slowly opened, his orbs landed on me.

A small grin meant only for me appeared on his face, lighting up his beautiful crimson orbs.

"G'morning," he mumbled. He ran a hand through his messy raven locks.

We laid in silence for a couple minutes just staring at each other. His crimson orbs pierced into mine and I felt myself melting and start to drift away.

He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a cough.

"Can you please stop staring at each other here. I would like to eat in peace" Hotaru's cold voice muttered.

I sat up quickly.

"I—I didn't think you were up yet," I stuttered watching as she popped a berry into her mouth.

She scowled and pointed to two plates of sandwiches and berries.

"We're leaving right away so hurry up and eat"

I did as I was told and handed Natsume his plate. I stuffed my face and was covered with the juices of different berries on my face. Before I got laughed at I quickly swiped at my mouth with the back of my hand.

After we ate, Hotaru grabbed out a map she had hidden and pointed out the way we were going to go to get to Natsume's Kingdom. The map had a big red circle around the cave that we were at right now with a dotted line leading through the forest towards a big area where The Hyuuga Kingdom's borders lay.

We were heading north of our cave right now and going for about 5 miles. Then we would be taking a little lunch break by a small stream. After our lunch break it would take us two minutes to reach the border.

"There's going to be Koizumi lurking there so we need to scout the area first and take them out so we can get safe passage through," Natsume said pointing to an area covered thickly in trees.

"We should avoid going through that area and head more to the left so we get closer to the guard house so we can get a ride from them up to the Palace"

"That would be a good idea," Ruka said plopping down beside Hotaru.

"We could take the carriage up to the Palace and get no attention at all from the towns people"

We nodded our heads in agreement.

"Okay, so we go through this way and take a carriage up to the Palace"

"Sounds good" I said.

"Okay, everyone start filling up the cart so we can get a move on" Ruka stated.

I walked back over to Natsume and my sleeping area.

I rolled up the sleeping bags and tied them shut.

"Need some help?" his warm breath brushed down my neck.

I shivered.

"Yeah," I handed him one sleeping bag and we walked out towards he cart.

He tossed both of our sleeping bags on top of the seat.

"All the sleeping bags are packed!" I yelled back into the cave. I ran around to the opposite side of the cart and tied the straps down.

Natsume rested his head on his arms and rested on the cart's floor. I stared at his drowsy face and moved my face closer to his to get a closer look.

I blushed when he opened his eyes and gave me a smirk.

"Staring at me now Polka?" he teased.

I smacked his forehead and went back into the cave. The floors looked bare without anything lying on them.

Hotaru handed me a giant basket of food.

"Why'd you give me this?" I asked.

She snorted.

"For you to take it out for me of course" she muttered.

"Well why can't you take it out yourself?"

"Why would I when your right there" she placed another basket on me blocking my vision.

I sweat dropped.

I carefully turned around and walked back towards the cart, moving very slowly. The top basket was lifted off and my orbs locked with those of Natsume's.

"Thanks," I breathed out a sigh of relief.

He smirked and set the basket beside the others, I did the same.

Hotaru and Ruka walked out with the rest of the things.

"We ready?"

I looked at Natsume.

"Yup,"

We were running for what seemed like hours, my legs felt like Jell-O. My breath was coming in small pants when Hotaru finally pointed ahead of us to a clearing with a running stream.

"Yay!" I ran over to the edge of the stream and ducked my head underneath the cool water. I stayed like that awhile, just cooling off until I realized I had to breath.

I pulled my head up and water dripped down my back.

I pulled off my sweater just leaving me in a red T-shirt.

"I don't think that was a really good idea," Natsume said sitting down next to me.

I shrugged and twisted my hair to get out the water. I watched as he leaned over the edge and grabbed a handful of water and splashed his face.

"See that's how you're suppose to do it" he gave me a teasing smile.

I growled and splashed him.

"Woops" I got up and ran.

I heard him running behind me and I squealed. I turned suddenly to my left and covered my face.

"Ok! Ok!" I rushed squealing.

I peeked through my fingers and saw him looking at me.

He peeled my hands away.

_Ba-thump Ba- thump Ba-thump_

Blood rushed to my face. Then he did something I didn't expect.

He pressed his lips down gently against mine.

_We're equal now. _He murmured in my head.

I stood there and watched as he walked away.

"You know," he called over his shoulder "we're going to eat lunch with or without you"

"Hey!" I ran to catch up to him. We matched pace and I hesitantly reached towards his hand. He saw what I was doing and intertwined his fingers with mine.

I grinned to myself.

"Here comes the happy couple," Ruka sang in a mocking voice as we reached the spot where the cart was floating.

Natsume gave his best friend a glare.

He laughed and handed me a plate of bacon.

"Thanks," I plopped down against the trunk of a near by tree.

"Mmm," I savored the taste against my tongue. "This is yummy"

My chin and hands were covered in grease. I licked my fingertips clean.

A cool wet towel was thrust into my face.

"Seriously, wipe your face" Hotaru muttered.

I did as I was told. "You didn't need to throw the thing in my face"

"I know," she said.

I glared at her retreating figure.

15 minutes later we were up and running again. We had looked at the calculations and if they were right it would take up about 20 minutes to reach the borders of the Hyuuga Kingdom. Then we would have to be really careful to not catch the attention of any Koizumi who may be there, and reach the Hyuuga Guard House.

"5 more minutes," Ruka panted.

I groaned.

"Be ready for a fight," Natsume reminded us.

I remember what the Koizumi did to me before when they caught me. I mentally shivered with recalling that.

_At least I can heal everyone._

My courage went up and I realized I would be fine if they spotted us. Natsume could surround them with fire and we wouldn't even need to fight them.

We stopped by the end of the tree line to catch our breath.

Looking in front of us lay the big clearing that we were suppose to cross, In the middle lay a giant group of trees.

_That's where the Koizumi are._

Looking up you could see a big white Castle hiding just in the distance.

My breath caught as I looked at the place from my childhood memory. I studied it again seeing if I could remember anything else familiar.

I looked at Natsume from the corner of my eye. I somehow knew him from when I was younger, but I don't remember much. After I realized I had the healing Alice I couldn't remember anything from that dream, except for a younger looking Natsume and a big white castle.

_Maybe I'll find out more when I'm staying here. _

Ruka stood up and everyone else followed after his lead.

"On three we run straight through to the other side, and we don't stop until we reach a small cabin with Hyuuga Soldiers"

I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"One,"

I stared at the other tree line—just 200 meters away.

"Two,"

"Three!" We broke through the bush.

Our feet pounded on the ground and my heart was beating so quickly I was sure that the Koizumi would be running after us at any moment and it would all be over.

_Don't even think about looking behind us. _Natsume warned.

I glanced at him. _Mikan, Don't look._

I fought against the temptation to look. But I was saved when leaves brushed my cheeks and I was pulled back into the safety of the trees.

"Keep going!"

I started running again and a couple seconds later a small cabin came into view. A group of older men standing outside the shed ran towards us—armed with weapons.

_We have the right place, right?_

_Yeah, just wait for it._

The men stopped in front of us and dropped to their knees.

"Welcome home, Natsume-ouji, Ruka-ouji and Hotaru-hime," they said in unison.

They acknowledged the guards.

"It is an honor to meet you Mikan-hime"

I blinked at the very formal greetings.

"Thank you," Ruka said, "we need a ride up to the Palace. May we use your carriage?"

"Of course, Ruka-ouji"

They lead us to the shed.

A big black carriage sat parked to the side—beautiful black horses snorted when they saw us. Ruka went over to the horses and rubbed their heads, they leaned against his hand.

Ruka smiled and looked back over at us.

"Let's go!"

One of the guards got up to drive us to the Palace.

Everyone piled inside. A hand reached down in front of me.

I looked up and saw Natsume.

I smiled and grabbed his hand—he pulled me up inside the carriage.

Everyone was inside so it was very packed—I looked around to see if there was an open seat. Someone grabbed my wrist and I was pulled onto a lap. I turned around and saw no one other then Natsume.

He smirked.

My brow furrowed in response—but I still relaxed against him. I watched the scenery go by as I looked out the window.

My mind wandered back to the voice of the Oracle and how my original Alice power has now been unlocked. I had to get three different Stones inside me first just to make it stable again—so what would the Alice be? I let out a breath of air I hadn't realized I had been holding.

That was just one of the mystery's I had to figure out. The next was Natsume.

How did I know him? Why do I remember seeing this place before when I didn't even remember coming here before.

My thoughts were forced to stop as the carriage stopped and we were told to get out.

We stepped out of the carriage and I was dumbstruck at how beautiful this place was up close.

The Palace was a beautiful white marble with gold trims around the windows and decorations. I looked up at the huge towering building—I felt so small compared to this huge place.

I turned around and looked down at the villages that were nestled against the hill for miles. The view was absolutely amazing!

"Come on, let's go"

I followed them to the gates and we walked inside into a mystical foyer. Complete with more marble inside and extremely fancy chandeliers—yet it was a very comfortable atmosphere.

We set are things down.

"Nat-kun!"

I looked up at the balcony by the top of the stairs and saw an older female version of Natsume. She had deep scarlet orbs and long raven hair.

She ran down the stairs at full speed and jump over the railing the last second—she landed on the floor graceful as ever.

"Nat-kun!" I saw Natsume grimace.

She tackled him in a big bear hug.

"Nat-kun! I missed you so much, I'm glad you're finally back" she pulled away from him and held his face, "Did you beat them to a pulp? Are they coming—"

"Mom," Natsume cut her off.

_Mom?_

My eyes widened.

"I'm fine, and yes we hurt 'em good"

"I'm so glad! I heard that the Sakura kingdom got invaded and I was so worried about you three," her eyes started tearing up.

She looked at me and blinked—then she looked back at Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru.

"Wait…" she walked up to me and studied me—her orbs widened.

"Your—how?" she whispered.

"I'm sure you know the princess of the Sakura Kingdom," Hotaru said inclining her head towards me "Mikan"

I fidgeted as The Queen looked at me.

"Um, It's nice to meet you your high—" I was cut off.

"No, No! Just Kaoru-chan for you Mikan-chan!" she gave me a hug, "Your Mom and I were really good friends"

"O-okay, Kaoru-chan" I said.

Just then another girl squealed.

"Onii-chan!" a girl that looked like a young female version of Natsume ran down the stairs into his arms.

She started sobbing.

"On—Onii-chan, I didn't think you would come home!"

He groaned and ruffled her hair.

"I'm fine, Aoi"

Her orbs traveled back to me.

After more introductions, we were—correction I was shown to my room which was beside Natsume's. Then Ruka and Hotaru's room was across the hall.

I plopped down on the bed and looked around the room. It was completely furnished with a TV, bookshelves, closet and an en-suite bathroom.

I didn't have anything that belonged to me personally except for the pouch my Jii-chan had given me. I had returned the clothes I had used from Hotaru except for the big red sweater and black skinny jeans, she said that they were a gift for me.

Speaking of clothes…

I got up and walked over to the closet. I gasped as I opened the big glass doors.

I slowly walked inside and stared.

To my left was a wall full of different colors and styles of kimonos, followed by lots and lots of different dresses. Then there was a section of every style of shoe available, plus an area full of make-up and hair supplies. Lastly there was everyday clothes, and PJ's.

I ran my finger along the clothes as I walked to the doors at the back of the closet. There were two doors—the one was a door that was made for sending clothes down to the laundry room. The other was a smaller closet area filled with a couple of dressers. I walked inside and opened the drawer closest to me—it was filled with an assortment of different styles and patterns of underwear. Then on the wall was a dresser of all kinds of jewelry and other accessories.

I walked over to another door that led into the en-suite bathroom.

I immediately spotted the strawberry bath soaps and oils.

"Wow!" I squealed.

A knock on the door made me wipe the drool off my chin.

"Coming!" I ran back into the bedroom and opened the door. Hotaru was leaning against the frame.

"Hotaru!" I opened the door for her to come all the way in.

"Have you seen the closet yet?" she muttered plopping on the bed.

"Yes, it's amazing!"

She smirked.

"I had them put your favorite soaps in the bathroom for you"

"That was your doing?" I sat down beside her.

She nodded.

"Oh, but there's going to be a celebration tonight for our returning. Including a ball, and food" she looked at me, "You have 3 hours to have a bath, pick out your dress and do your make-up and hair"

She walked back to the door.

"That's all I needed to tell you, I'll come back here 10 minutes before the party to make sure you didn't make yourself look stupid"

She closed the door behind her.

"A ball huh!" I giggled, "This will be fun"

I locked the door and headed towards the bathroom.

I slipped into the warm water and soaked myself in strawberry scents.

After my bath I wrapped myself in a towel and walked into the room where the underwear and jewelry were. I opened the drawers and looked for something that wasn't… lacy. Finally I found a similar pattern to that of my polka dotted one and I picked out that set.

I looked at the jewelry and realized I would need to pick my dress first before I accessorize.

Walking into the closet I went towards the dresses. I looked through them and found one that really stood out.

It was a strapless white cocktail dress with a pink bow tied around the waist, then the top half of the dress was black. I pulled it on and twirled around in front of the mirror. It fit me perfectly, which was good news.

I put on a pair of cute black flats—I didn't want to wear heals and fall over when I was dancing.

I went back to the jewelry and grabbed a long dangling silver heart necklace, with small silver hoops for my ears.

I looked at my reflection again and nodded to myself in approval.

"Now for hair and make-up," I said to myself sitting down on the bench in front of the make-up table.

I brushed my hair out along my shoulders.

"I think… I'll leave my hair down tonight, but I'll spice it up"

I grabbed a few clips and twisted strands of hair and pinned them up on the top of my head. I let my hair dry out just like that—then I released all the clips and watched as my hair flowed down my back in long silky chestnut colored waves.

I curled the ends of my hair in spirals and finished it off with a sparkling mist that shimmered when it caught the light.

I looked at the different shades of eyeliner and finally settled with a brown. I just did a thin swipe so it still looked natural but it made my hazel orbs appear bigger and very pretty. I did a few coats of mascara.

I applied a light blush and a light brush of a sandy brown eyeshadow. I put a light pink lip-gloss on my lips and stood back to examine my final appearance.

"I look good," I murmured.

I grabbed a pink nail polish and did a quick layer on my nails.

"Done!"

I left my closet just as a knock on the door sounded.

I opened the door and Hotaru walked into the room.

She gave me a once over and nodded in approval.

"Good choice," she said.

I looked at her—she was wearing a dark purple dress that reached right below her knees and black flats just like mine.

Her amethyst orbs were lined in black and her raven hair was sleek straight.

"You look great, Hotaru!" I said in awe.

"Yeah yeah," she grabbed my wrist "Come on we have to go get the guys"

Ruka answered the door when we knocked on Natsume's door.

"Wow you girls look really nice,"

"Thanks," I giggled.

Hotaru gave a small smile.

Ruka was wearing a light blue dress shirt and black dress pants. His blonde hair was a little messy—but not a bad messy.

We walked into the room and sat down on the couch watching some TV while we waited for Natsume to finish.

About 5 minutes later he came out of the bathroom.

My orbs widened as they rested on him. He was wearing a crisp red dress shirt, white dark black bottoms. His raven hair was as messy as ever—but I couldn't stop my self from staring at him with my mouth open.

He looked… really good.

His crimson orbs looked at me and he gave me a mischievous grin.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

I stood up and grabbed his awaiting hand.

"Yup!" I smiled up at him.

We walked into a huge ballroom filled with hundreds of people dressed in formal attire. Some people were already dancing to the music that was booming through the stereos.

Hotaru dragged Ruka over to the buffet table to eat to her hearts content.

"Come on, we'll sit at a table until the party really begins" he pulled me towards the open tables.

"The party hasn't even begun yet?" I said eyes wide as I looked at all the people in the room.

"No, not even half the people have arrived"

"There's more people!" I shouted in disbelief.

10 minutes later then room filled with lots more people—but it wasn't even that crowded in here, which was surprising.

"Everyone can I have your attention!" I looked up at the stage, where a man stood.

"Tonight we are celebrating the return of my son, Natsume"

"This won't take long," he whispered to me.

Natsume stood up and walked on stage—everyone was cheering and some girls beside me were screaming his name. I frowned at them but looked back at Natsume as he began to speak.

"The past couple of weeks hasn't been fun, being captured by the Koizumi with Ruka. But during that time we were able to rescue Ruka's fiancée, Imai" Ruka and Hotaru walked on stage hand in hand.

"After we escaped, Imai told us that the Sakura Kingdom had been invaded," a few gasps were heard throughout the crowd. "But with her inventions, we were able to understand that the princess had escaped and was travelling through the forest by herself," more gasps were heard, and he paused for a moment before locking his gaze with me.

"We soon found her afterwards, and we made our way back here"

I blinked.

"Everyone I give you the princess of the Sakura Kingdom and my girlfriend, Mikan Sakura"

The girls gasped when they heard that but it was matched with the gasps of everyone in the room.

I wanted to disappear when I felt them search the room to find 'this girl'.

_Mikan, come here._

I sighed and stood up.

Brushing my skirt I walked up to the stage. I felt the glares of all the girls at the back of my head, and I nervously bit my bottom lip.

I reached the stage and was greeted by his hand. Seeing him standing there giving me a smile made the glares of the girls feel like nothing. I grabbed his hand and was pulled towards him. He gave me a brief kiss on the lips and pulled me beside Hotaru and Ruka.

Natsume's Dad took the microphone again.

"There you have it! The princes and Princesses our safe, let the celebration begin!" he concluded.

As soon as he said that, the music boomed shaking the glass in the windows.

"Let's get a drink," he shouted down in my ear.

I nodded showing him I heard him.

He pulled me back into the crowd and led me towards the food table.

He poured a glass of punch for me and I gladly accepted.

We went back to our table and talked, well shouted back and fourth. It was pretty funny actually.

A high screech of the microphone caught our attention and we looked back at the DJ who was set up on the stage.

"Hey party people!" He shouted.

The crowd cheered in response.

"Ya'll having fun?" he asked.

The crowd cheered again.

"That's what I thought!" he said, "We're going to slow things down a bit, so grab that special someone and get on the dance floor!"

The lights dimmed down and the dance floor began to fill with couples.

Natsume got out of his chair and walked towards me.

"Wanna dance?" he asked pulling me up.

"Yeah!"

He moved me towards the dance floor.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he set his hands around my waist.

Our eyes locked as we rotated around in time with the music, I smiled at him.

"You know what?" I whispered, "I never thought I would be at some place so amazing in my life. Or be at a ball with this many people"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you do this back at your Kingdom?" he asked.

I shook my head. "We haven't done anything like this," I gestured around us with my hand. "Since my parents death"

"Well," he murmured "I guess you'll just have to come here a lot for partying"

I giggled.

"Maybe"

We danced in silence for awhile.

"Well…" he whispered very low "I never thought I would be together with someone like this, and never want to let them go" his arms tightened around me.

_Ba-thump Ba-thump Ba-thump_

He leaned down towards me and I closed my eyes in response. I felt his nose press against my cheek—his warm breath gave me tingles.

I inched my face closer to his and his cool lips pressed down against mine. Every nerve in my body was alive. His lips moved against my own for a couple seconds and he pulled away.

I bit my lip and lifted my gaze up to his crimson orbs.

He gave me a small smile meant for only me.

I returned the grin and leaned my head down against his chest.

A few minutes later the song ended.

"Follow me, I want to show you something" he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the giant glass doors leading outside.

"Here's another slow one for you, so stay with that special someone!" the DJ called.

The cool air brushed through my hair as we stepped outside. We walked down a lit path with pretty lights and a big glowing pink Sakura tree came into view.

My breathing stopped—we had a Sakura tree like this back at home. We walked up to the tree—I pressed my palm against the rough bark.

"Give me your hand" I looked up at him sitting on a low tree branch.

"How'd you get up there?" I asked confused.

"I climbed, now give me your hand" he said.

I grabbed his out stretched hand and was lifted up on the branch beside him. He pulled me up onto his lap and held me against him. I rested my back against the branch behind me. He lit his fire up and made his flames dance in the dark sky in front of us.

"That's so pretty," I breathed.

He chuckled.

The flames danced around and around matching the falling petals of the Sakura tree.

"This tree is where I come when I'm bored or not feeling like being around anyone. I don't know why but this tree seems to have some kind of special feeling to it—like its important somehow" he murmured. His crimson orbs reflected the dancing of the flames and the beauty of it dazed me.

"That's weird right?"

I shook my head. "No, I think its sweet that you have a connection to the tree"

"Of course," he murmured against my hair.

I nestled against him.

"This tree does seem mystical when the petals fall every where and the only light is your flames and the twinkling lights on the path" I said.

"Reminds me of home," I whispered to myself.

I bit my lip fighting back tears. Natsume pulled me closer towards him and rubbed his fingers lightly up and down my arm.

I hid my face and let the tears fall for awhile until I slipped into a dreamless sleep.

**

* * *

****Chapter 10 done.**

**Remember to review please and thank you.**

**Thanks to,**

**BeHind ThY Hazel OrBs**

**kylee-Cat**

**VeronicaLover123**

**SakuraPetals13**

**bunnyjumps**

**KashinoXIchigo4ever & .twins**

**-Luna :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Luna here,**

**How have you guys been? I finally have a break from school so updates might not take as long.**

**Anyway, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 11:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

I groggily opened my orbs and peered into the darkened room.

I pushed the sheets off my sweaty body and glanced over at the clock.

6:15 AM

I groaned and trudged over to the bathroom.

Cold water woke my tired eyes—I peered into the mirror, my hair was a tangled mess all over my head.

"Guess I probably should have brushed my hair before I went to bed last night," I yawned.

After getting most of the tangles out of my hair, I decided it would be better if I had a bath.

Walking over to the giant tub I turned on the tap—warm water started pouring inside.

I slipped off my PJ's and carefully sat in the warm water. I closed my eyes, still sleepy for waking up so early.

*Last night*

_"Mikan," he shook my shoulder._

"_Hey wake up," his warm breath tingled down my neck._

_Groaning I opened my eyes._

"_What?" I asked rubbing my tired hazel orbs._

_I felt him smiling and turned to look at him._

"_What?" my brow furrowed._

_Do I have something on my face? I thought. I brought my hands up and wiped my cheeks just in case._

"_The party's over let's go back inside" he said._

_I looked back towards the towering building and saw that the lights had dimmed down. The once booming music was no longer there. I glanced back at him where he sat leaning against the tree._

"_When did it end?" I asked._

"_Hour ago," he yawned._

_My orbs widened._

"_An hour ago?" I asked with disbelief, "Why we still out here?"_

"_I didn't want to wake you up, you seemed upset" he brushed a stray hair away from my forehead._

_My eyes softened. "You could have just woke me up," I whispered._

_He shrugged and jumped off the branch._

"_Jump," _

"_What! That's crazy," I said._

_He motioned with his hands for me to jump._

"_I'll catch you," he smirked._

"_That expression doesn't make me feel very safe," I muttered._

"_I can throw fireballs at you" his crimson orbs flashed with amusement._

"_No!" I slid off the branch in one quick movement. I squeezed me eyes shut tight and waited for my body to reach the ground._

_My fall stopped in a couple seconds when I was swooped up into his arms._

"_Ugh," he grunted._

_I gave him a thanks-for-making-me-feel-fat look._

_He grinned._

"_Not that bad?" he teased._

"_Shut up," I muttered._

_He carried me along the lit path towards the empty ballroom._

_He set me down and we walked into the dark room, an eerie breeze lifted my hair up around my face._

"_Weeiirrd," I whistled._

_He tsked and lit several flames to light up the huge room._

_Its features shocked me. The room was completely bare—it didn't have a signal chair, table or piece of paper left in the room. The only thing left was the microphone on the stage._

"_Is it always this empty?" I asked walking towards the center of the room._

"_No," he said following me "the maids will set up the room again tomorrow again for a meeting with the neighbouring Kingdoms"_

"_Oh," _

_I twirled around— taking in the vast room._

_It had a balcony up stairs that I hadn't noticed before._

_I pointed up towards them._

"_What's up there?" I asked looking back at him._

_He followed my finger and grinned._

"_Come on," he laced his fingers with mine and pulled me towards the wall in front of us._

_He pushed aside a long red curtain that exposed at hidden staircase. We walked up the stairs to a beautiful hidden room with couches circling the whole perimeter of the room—and I mean there the sink-down-when-you-sit kind, extremely comfortable! The sofa was a deep scarlet—matching the curtains that hung besides the balcony ready to hide the space from being viewed from below whenever chosen. The walls were a light brown color that gave off a warm cozy feeling and the dark hardwood floors added to it._

"_Whoa," I said walking into the room. I sat down on one of the couches from the corner of the room._

"_What is this place?" I asked as he pulled himself down beside me. I leaned against him as he played with a piece of my hair._

"_This is my hide out when I don't feel like partying" he grinned mockingly._

"_This is really cool," I looked down at the ballroom beneath us. I could imagine what it would be like to sit up here and watch everything that was happening all at once._

"_Don't people see you coming up here?" I asked._

"_Nah, I use another entrance when there's people here," he motioned to the spot beside us. He hit it with his fist against the back of the couch and the wall popped out. He pulled the couch forward exposing another set of stairs._

"_Were does that lead to?" I asked peering down into the darkness._

"_Behind the stage"_

"_Cool" I said yawning._

_He pulled me up off the couch._

"_Let's get you up to your room" _

_I followed him back down the stairs and he led me through the dimly lit corridors. The whole place was quiet—there wasn't even whispers of maids in other rooms or any of the guests shuffling around._

_We finally reached the hall that led to our rooms._

_I stopped outside my door and turned towards him._

"_Good night, Nat—" He pinned me to the door and pressed his lips down against mine. My heart hammered inside my chest 100 miles/hour. He pulled back just a tad._

"_G'night, Mikan" I watched him walk down towards his room. He stopped in front of his door and gave me a brief smile before disappearing into his room._

_I opened the door and stepped into my own room._

_I headed towards the laundry shoot and slipped the white dress I was wearing inside. I walked over towards the PJ section in this huge closet and choose a pink T-shirt and grey sweat pants. _

_I brushed my teeth and passed out on the bed._

*Present*

Sighing I pulled myself up out of the warm water and wrapped myself in the cozy cotton towel.

I walked over to the closet and pulled on my bra and panties.

"What to wear…" I looked around the huge closet.

"Umm," a window caught my attention "I'll look outside and see what the weathers like"

I looked outside and warm rays of sunlight grazed my features. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm tingling on my exposed arms.

I closed the curtains and walked towards the clothing.

I picked out a white baggy Tee and a pair of black short shorts.

I brushed my hair into low pigtails and a little swipe of brown eyeliner.

I walked back towards the bedroom and I quickly made my bed and checked the time.

8:00 AM

"I'll go get some breakfast," I muttered to myself. I walked down the big corridor and stood there confused for a second.

"Uhh, which way was it again?" I peered down the 3 different hallways.

_Lost little girl? _He teased.

_Shush, _I sent him a glare through my thoughts.

I felt him chuckling so I turned around.

"Hey there," he murmured—his crimson orbs gave me a once over.

"Back at you," I smiled.

I looked at his appearance. His raven locks were as messy as ever and he wore a black T-shirt. He had dark jeans on and a pair of skater shoes.

"The kitchen is this way," he pointed to the hall that went to the left.

"I was going that way," I said turning around.

"I'm sure"

We walked into the kitchen and a pair of maids greeted us.

The one was a girl who looked about 20, with green orbs and long caramel hair. Then there was an older lady with dark chocolate waves and a grey color in her orbs.

"Good morning, Natsume-ouji, Mikan-hime" they bowed.

I blushed.

"Thank you…" I said, "Um"

"I'm Tara," the girl spoke. She motioned towards the lady beside her "this is Mae"

"Nice to meet you Tara-san, Mae-san" I curtsied.

Mae-san shook her head. "Dear, just call us Tara and Mae," she smiled at me and it reminded me of Jii-chan.

"Okay, Tara, Mae" I smiled warmly at them.

"What's for breakfast this morning?" Natsume asked pulling me towards the bar stools that sat by the counter.

"Bacon and eggs, young master" Tara said. She placed two plates in front of us—I breathed in the familiar scents and my mouths automatically watered.

"Tara, I told you, just Natsume is fine" Natsume spoke through a mouthful of food.

"Hai, Natsume-ouji" she said. She disappeared behind the fridge door and I realized she was really short!

She reappeared with two glasses of orange juice.

"Thank you Tara" I sipped the juice. I let out a satisfied sigh.

"Thanks for the food" I said after I swallowed the last drop.

Hotaru walked in the room in her PJ's. See looked at us then back at the plate of food Mae had just set down for her.

Ruka appeared a second later with his blonde hair sticking up in all sorts of directions.

"Hotaru! I told you to wait" he huffed sitting down in front of the plate of food. He muttered thanks to Tara.

"I smelt food," she said stuffing her face.

"And you weren't fast enough" she concluded after she swallowed.

He scowled and dug into his own food.

Natsume snorted and I looked back over at him. He was drinking a second glass of juice.

"What's with you?" I asked.

He shook his head.

I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. I sipped at the refill of orange juice I had gotten.

"The weathers really nice out today," Mae said.

"Yeah, it is" I agreed.

"You four should go down to town and visit Central Town"

"What's Central town?" I asked rolling the name off my tongue.

"A place filled with a bunch of different stores in one place," Ruka said "It's really cool!"

My orbs sparkled.

"Can we go?" I asked turning around to look at Natsume. I pouted my lip out and gave him my best puppy eye look.

He sighed.

"I need a new pair of shades any ways" he murmured gulping down the last of his juice.

"I need a new set of nails and screw drivers too," Hotaru's cold voice said.

"Then we can go!" I jumped up and dragged him to the door.

"We need disguises first," he said.

I groaned and ran back up to my closet.

I looked through the jewelry and hair things and found a pair of big black shades. I covered up my orbs and looked in the mirror.

"Um, this would be fine"

I ran back down and saw them standing there by the door.

Hotaru was wearing a fitted purple shirt and white short shorts. Her raven locks were in messy curls and a little black bow was clipped to the side if her head.

Ruka was wearing a blue Tee with cargo shorts. His blonde hair was spiked up just a bit.

I walked towards the door and grabbed my black flats. While I put them on I sneaked a glance at Natsume.

His raven hair was down covering his forehead and a pair of aviator shades hid his beautiful crimson orbs. He was still wearing his crisp black shirt but he had changed from his dark jeans to a pair of cargo pants.

"We ready?" Hotaru asked.

I stood up and placed my hands in my pockets.

"Yup," we said.

We walked outside and were greeted by the warm rays.

A black carriage was pulled out front. We walked over to it and the carriage driver opened the door for us. I thanked him and sat down on the far side. Natsume sat down beside me—and Ruka and Hotaru sat down in front of us.

"I can only take you to just outside of town so you aren't found out. I suggest you split up, and meet at one of the local restaurants," the driver said.

"Sure, thanks" Ruka said.

I glanced outside at the scenery. The view amazed me the forest in the background was absolutely breath taking and with the houses packed in the hill it made the place feel magical. When we passed by the villager's houses an area packed with several buildings all packed together came into view.

"Wow," I breathed.

Natsume peered out the window beside me.

"Were here," he announced.

The driver stopped about a 5-minute walk away from the mass of buildings.

I jumped out and the sound of birds chirping filled the air. If you listened close enough you could here the voices of the people out at Central Town right now.

We watched the cart leave and we sat their awhile looking at the view of the palace.

"So, were going to separate when we reach the town?" Ruka asked shading his face with his hand.

"Yup," Natsume said, "How about we meet up at Anna's Café?"

Ruka gave a toothy grin.

"I'll take that as a yes, let's get a move on before I die from this heat"

I stretched and followed behind Ruka.

"Hey," Hotaru nudged me.

"Hey," I grinned.

"You have to get Hyuuga to take you to a place called 'Better than Nothing'"

"Why?" I asked.

"They have something there that Baka's like you would love" she smirked.

I glared at her.

She gave me a small grin. "You'll thank me later"

She jogged up beside Ruka and laced their fingers together. I watched as he turned his head towards her and planted a kiss against her cheek.

I smiled to myself as I watched my best friend get flustered.

"What you thinking?"

I looked over at the Crimson orbed flame caster.

"Hmm?" I questioned.

"Why you smiling to yourself?"

"Oh," I looked ahead of us at Hotaru and Ruka "it's sweet to see them like that"

"Hn"

I unconsciously bit my bottom lip as I let my fingers brush against his.

He pulled my fingers closer to him and I let him slip his fingers between mine.

We reached the town and I was amazed at how many different stores there were. I was in awe with all the colors and that I saw and the different tastes on my tongue.

"Ok, so we'll meet you guys at Anna's Café at 1?" Ruka said.

I looked up at Natsume who nodded his head.

"Cool," he grabbed Hotaru's hand and pulled her into the swarm of people.

"Which way do you want to go first?" he said.

I looked up at the streets—there were 4 different ways to choose from. Ruka and Hotaru had gone to the farthest left, so I wouldn't pick that way. I peered at the 3 different streets.

"Umm,"

A sweet smell caught my attention and I pointed towards it.

"That way!" I grinned looking up at him.

"Always the food" he muttered.

"What was that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing,"

I gave him an I-know-your-lying-but-I'll-let-it-slide-for-now look.

"Yeah, yeah" He chuckled.

We walked down the street and we stopped outside a small shop that had all sorts of different necklaces and accessories inside.

"This is the place for my shades," he said "I'll just be a minute. You can go look around"

"Okay,"

"Just don't get lost," he teased.

"I won't" I huffed and wandered into the shop.

A section at the back caught my attention. I walked towards it and saw it was different necklaces with mini symbols of fruits.

"Wow!" I breathed.

A bright red strawberry caught my attention and I lifted the chain up towards me. It glimmered when the light reflected off of it.

"That's pretty," I said to myself.

_I wish I could get it. _

"What you looking at?"

I pointed to the necklace I was holding.

"Isn't it pretty?"

His face furrowed.

"It's a strawberry?" he questioned.

"Well yeah," I smirked.

He shrugged.

"I just need to pay for this then we can go look at some more stuff"

I gave one last look at the necklace. "Ok!"

He walked up to the sales clerk and bought the pair of shades.

"Ready?"

I nodded.

"Oh!" I shouted out.

He blinked and looked over at me. "What?"

"Hotaru told me to tell you to take me to a place called 'Better than Nothing'" I said.

He sighed. "Of course"

"Let's go,"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a large group of people. I stood up on my toes to see what all the commotion was over. The sweet smell caught my nose again and I let out a sigh.

"That smells yummy," I murmured.

"It is,"

I looked up at him. "Is this the place?"

"Yup," he turned around "She that tree over there?"

I turned around and saw a big tree on top of a grassy area. There wasn't anyone sitting there.

"Yeah?"

"Go sit over there and wait for me, kay?"

I nodded.

He leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips. I smiled and turned around heading towards the big tree.

I stepped onto the grass and walked over by the tree. A low branch caught my attention so I grabbed onto it and swung myself up.

I played with a random leaf as I watched the crowd of people grow and grow around the shop.

"They must be really popular," I muttered to myself.

"Yeah, they are" I jumped at the sound of his voice. I turned my head and saw Natsume sitting up beside me—on his lap sat a small purple box.

"When did you get up here?" I asked wide-eyed.

"Couple seconds ago,"

I looked at the box. "What's that?"

"Howalon"

"Howalon?" I asked.

"Try one"

He placed the box on my lap. I opened it up and let the sweet aroma engulf me.

"Mmm,"

I grabbed a soft pink cotton like ball from inside—I brought it to my lips and took a small bite.

My orbs widened with surprise as the creamy sweet taste filled my mouth. I popped the whole thing inside and chewed the delicious taste of heaven.

"I'll take you like them?" he removed his shades and I could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Yes!" I grabbed another out of the box.

He reached towards me and grabbed his own—I watched as he popped it into his mouth.

We sat there eating the delicious Howalon until there wasn't any left inside.

"That was really good," I said patting my tummy in satisfaction.

"Duh," he smiled. He reached into the bag he was carrying.

"Close your eyes" he said.

I blinked at him confused but did as I was told.

I felt him reach around my neck and then let go of something. It was cool against my neck.

I opened my eyes and peered down at my neck. My orbs widened in shock.

There on my neck was the strawberry necklace I had wanted.

"Natsume," I whispered. I wrapped my arms around him—careful not to fall out of the tree.

_Thank you._

_You're welcome._

I smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I slide off the branch and looked up at him. I gave him a big smile before turning around and making a run for the tree just beside us.

_You still think you can out run me? _I mocked.

I heard the thud when he jumped from the tree.

_Obviously! _

_Then come find me _I taunted.

_Find me first._

I laughed and ran around the tree. I peeked through one of the branches trying to see where he was. I didn't see anything so I moved my head out more. I took my shades off and walked back towards the open field.

By then a group of girls had started walking towards the trees—but I didn't pay any attention to them.

_Stupid Natsume,_ I gnawed on my lower lip.

I turned back to the trees and looked up to see if he had gone back into the branches.

"Umm,"

Then I saw a flicker of movement in the tree beside mine.

_Aha! I see you so come out! _

He dropped down and ran over towards me. His crimson orbs twinkled.

I ran up to him.

"Natsume! I thought you were going to come after me?" I teased, "Did you finally realize I can out run you"

He grinned. "Woops,"

I smacked his arm lightly.

"Now what?"

"Your turn to hide" he said, "one, two,"

I ran back towards the trees when he covered his eyes. I looked around for a spot to hide—he was just 100 meters away.

"Umm," I looked around.

"Hey!" I turned around quickly. 4 girls stood in front of me—hands on hips and big scowls.

"Your that Mikan girl right?" a girls with sea-weed green hair and piercing green orbs asked.

The three other girls circled around her.

"Umm," I looked at the girls—they didn't look that friendly "…yes"

"That's what we thought" a red head sneered.

I backed up against the rough tree bark.

"What do you want?" I asked biting my lip.

"Stay away from our Natsume-sama! He's mine," the seaweed head girl shouted. She came forward and poked a finger into my shoulder. "Just because you're some princess and think you get his attention all to yourself for being lost in the woods doesn't mean you can prance around and do whatever you want"

"Who do you think you are!" I growled. I brushed her finger off of me.

"Sumire Shouda, president of the Ruka and Natsume fanclub! And you Mikan Sakura have violated the rules, you have touched our Natsume and are dating him!"

I blinked.

"Ruka and Natsume fanclub?"

"Yes!" the girls, said.

I coughed to hide my laughter.

"Ooh," I muttered fitting back giggles "well you do realize that Ruka is already engaged. Plus Natsume and I are dating, not because I forced him to but because we like eachother"

The girls flustered.

"We—well your still not allowed to touch our Natsume-sama!" she said moving towards me again.

_Mikan where are you?_

I walked forward as well—we stood nose to nose.

"And?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

"We want you to leave him alone" the red head said.

_Mikan?_

"What if I don't?" I asked.

"Well I guess you get to see what our Alice's are!" the wind started picking up and I looked at the girl with short yellow hair.

I called my nullification and stopped her.

"Wha—" she said, "I can't use my Alice"

"What?"

The red head I guess had the Alice of water because she held a swirling ball of water in her hands. Then Sumire started changing into… a cat. She had whiskers, cat ears, nails and the tail.

I lifted the nullification around them as well and watched as they reverted back to normal. I stretched it over to the last girl as well.

"Look, I don't want any trouble here Permy" I said.

_Mikan!_

"Permy!" she shrieked. She ran forward and I braced myself for the impact.

**Slap!**

"What…" she whispered.

I looked up and saw Natsume in front of me. Permy's hand was raised up beside his face.

He looked up at her slowly and gave her a cold glare.

"Get out of here," he said coldly.

"Bu—but," she stuttered "…Natsume-sama"

"Now"

She cowered away and ran back towards the shops, her friends followed quickly after.

He turned towards me.

"Are you ok?" he asked. His fingers traced down the side of my cheek.

I nodded my head.

"What's up with them?" I asked.

"Deranged Fan girls," he snorted "They've been following Ruka and me around since we were kids"

"That sounds… fun" I muttered.

He snorted.

He looked down at his watch.

"Ah, it's one. We should get going to the Café"

"Okay,"

We put our shades back on and went back into the crowd of people. We headed down the street and came to a small shop that smelled of freshly baked goods. It was a pink store with big glass windows in the front with the words Anna's Café in the middle.

We walked inside and Ruka waved us over to where they were sitting.

"Didn't think you guys were going to make it," Ruka said as we sat down.

"We ran into some trouble," I said giggling.

"Correction, you found trouble," Natsume said.

I rubbed the back of my head.

"What happened?" Hotaru said.

"She got to meet the fan girls" he snorted.

Ruka laughed. Hotaru looked over at me.

"What did they do?"

"Told me to stay away from their 'Natsume-sama'" I muttered taking a sip from my drink.

"Typical," she muttered biting into a chocolate cake.

*Natsume's POV*

_Ugh, I can't believe that girl was going to slap Mikan. _My eyes narrowed. _Or that she slapped me instead._

I sighed and looked at the coffee that sat in front of me. I picked it up and sipped at the familiar bitter taste.

I let the coffee run through my system and calm me down.

A girl with pink wavy hair and blue orbs walked up to us.

"Hello, I'm Anna, I'll be serving you today," she greeted "do you know what you want today?"

"I'll have a chocolate fudge cake," Hotaru said.

"I'll have today's biscuits" Ruka smiled up at Anna.

"Umm, I'll have a strawberry shortcake" Mikan grinned.

"Okay," Anna smiled "and for you?" she asked looking at me.

"Just a refill of coffee would be good" I muttered.

"Coming right up" she turned around and walked behind the counter.

"This place is so cool," I heard Mikan mutter.

I looked around—the interior was light salmon color and the floor was a blue tile. The table was a sleek black, and the chairs were silver with a light pink cushion.

"Don't you think so" she nudged me.

"Hn,"

Anna came back carrying a chocolate fudge cake and a set of biscuits. Then another girl with long blue hair and dark blue orbs came carrying strawberry shortcake and a pot of freshly made coffee.

"One chocolate fudge cake for you, and biscuits" she set it down in front of Hotaru and Ruka.

The blue haired girl came up beside Mikan.

"One Strawberry short cake for you," she said.

"It looks yummy!" Mikan giggled, "thank you, umm"

"Ah, I'm Nonoko" she smiled—she reached over and poured me a cup of coffee.

"Nice to meet you Nonoko, I'm Mikan"

Anna and Nonoko's eyes widened.

"Mikan as in the princess of Sakura Kingdom?" they whispered.

_Covers blown. _I thought.

"Yup, but keep it a secret kay? We're here under cover" she winked at the girls.

They giggled. "Sure thing Mikan-chan"

We started eating.

"Mmm," Mikan said through bites "this is good"

I grabbed her fork and took a small bite. The flavors exploded on my tongue and I took another bite.

"It is," I muttered.

"Hey!" she whined "don't eat all of it"

I smirked and took another big mouthful. She frowned and stole the fork back.

"Mine," she said shielding the cake from my view.

I chuckled and took a sip from my coffee.

"Today's the meeting of all the neighbouring kingdoms right?" Ruka spoke up.

"Yeah," I swallowed "It's being held in the ballroom at 3 today. So we can spend the rest of the day out here if we wanted to"

"Really!" Mikan asked.

"I heard there was going to be an Alice event going on at 5," Hotaru replied "We could go back to the Palace and change then come back here"

"That would be really neat" Ruka said, "I think we should go!"

They all looked at me. I shrugged.

"Yay!" She giggled.

We paid for the treats and went back out of the shop.

"Where to now?" Ruka said.

"How about we go down to the park and stay there until 4," Hotaru suggested "Then we can go back to the Palace and get ready for tonight"

"Yeah," Mikan smiled "I want to see this park.

"And bring snacks to?" Ruka asked innocently "We could get some from Anna before we go"

Mikan drooled in response.

"Yeah, I think that would help the Baka" Hotaru smirked at her drooling friend.

"Ok," we went back into the delicious café and went to the take out section.

I looked at all the different types of cookies and cakes. There were hundreds of them.

"What can I get you?" Nonoko asked. She had a big smile on her face.

"1 dozen of those star shaped cookies please," Mikan said pointing on the glass.

She grabbed a box and set them inside.

"A chocolate fudge cake for four people and 1 big strawberry shortcake" Ruka smiled.

She set the big cakes into two separate boxes.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"One big pitcher of ice tea" Hotaru said.

"Okay, there you go" she handed us the 3 boxes and a container of ice tea.

"Thank you, Nonoko!" Mikan said, "Oh, are you going to the Alice event tonight?"

"Yup, Anna and me are going to go check it out"

"Maybe we'll see you there"

"Maybe!" she grinned.

We left the café again and headed down the street careful not to drop the delicious treats. We stopped out side a store and bought plates and cups.

We kept walking down the streets and eventually the huge crowds of people disappeared and a huge area of green surrounded us. I lead them through the maze of trees and walked over to a picnic bench. I set down the big boxes and set out the plates.

"Mmm," Mikan brought her face towards the boxes "They smell soo good"

I smirked and opened up the boxes—we each filled our plates and ate to our hearts content. It was delicious I would have to say.

"What's the Alice festival like?" Mikan asked looking up from her plate of food.

"A bunch of different Alice users go and show everyone what they can do with their Alice's" Hotaru said.

"It's really entertaining! Sometimes they call people from the audience to help them" Ruka chuckled.

Her hazel orbs twinkled with excitement.

I gave her a little smile. She was really going to like the event—I can already see her laughing in my mind.

I can't wait.

**

* * *

**

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**VeronicaLover123**


	12. Chapter 12

**Luna here, **

**been awhile, I know... haha *smacks forehead* -.-''**

**Diclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of the songs mentioned.**

**Chapter 12:**

* * *

*Natsume's POV*

When we arrived back at the castle, we all headed straight back to our rooms to change into some warmer clothes for tonight.

I grabbed the cool doorknob and the glass doors creaked open revealing my closet. I headed straight to the back of the closet—ignoring all the other designer clothing that lay on the racks. I grabbed one of my heavy leather jackets and change from my cargo's to dark jeans.

"Ready in record timing," I murmured—quickly ruffling my hair in the mirror.

I walked swiftly across the room, I lifted my arm up so I could turn the brass knob and leave my room. But the door had other plans instead—the doorknob turned quickly.

"Hey! Wha—" I jumped back fast to avoid my hand being smashed.

A young girl bounded inside.

"Onii-chaaaaann!" Aoi tackled me in a giant bear hug. I grunted with the impact but quickly moved my footing as to avoid falling and dropping my younger sister. Her thick raven locks were pulled back into a loose braid that reached just below her collarbone, and she was dressed in a T- shirt and sweats.

"Aoi…" I muttered—I attempted to peel her off me.

"Tara told me you were going to the Alice Festival tonight. Can I come too?" Her big crimson orbs locked with mine.

I scowled.

"Pleeeeeeaasssee! I'll be good, promise" she whined, "I haven't seen you in a long time—"

"It's been two weeks," I cut in.

"Onii-chan!" she growled, "I want to go too"

_This brat is just like Polka sometimes._

I rubbed my temples and squeezed my orbs shut as I thought. I could hear her chanting 'Please! Please! Please!' over and over again.

"Fine,"

She squealed.

"ONLY, if you stay with either Ruka or me the entire time" I smirked in triumph when her celebration stopped mid air.

"But! I want to see Youichi," she rushed quickly. I raised an eyebrow and her face turned the color of her big orbs.

"Youichi, huh?" I smirked when her blush deepened, "Hmm,"

I stepped back forcing the 15 year old girl to let go of me. I rubbed my chin as I thought about it—truth be told, I was fine with her going with Youichi. I trusted Aoi with the demon controller just like I trusted Ruka. I stood there pretending to think about it. I watched as she fidgeted.

She started gnawing on her lower lip.

"Ok," I said "But you stay with us until we meet up with Youichi"

"Yay!" she ran up and hugged me again, "Thank you Onii-chan"

She turned around and left the room.

"Oh!" her head popped in again, "Hotaru says to hurry up or you'll be paying money for the time wasted"

A vein popped in my forehead. _I wasn't the one who was wasting time here…_

She disappeared again and I left the room shortly after.

I saw the four of them all conversing by the door. Ruka was wearing the same thing as this morning but had brought a big hoodie. Imai had a zip of black jacket and a checkered scarf hanging around her neck.

I jumped the rest of the stairs and headed towards the group. I looked towards the two girls who were giggling amongst themselves. Aoi had changed from her sweats to a Black hoodie and white skinny jeans.

I glared at the back of her head.

_If guys start anything with her, I swea—_

My mind babbling was interrupted from none other than Aoi Hyuuga.

"Onii-chan! Can we leave now" she bobbed up in down in front of me. Her crimson orbs twinkled with excitement.

"Hn,"

"Finally," I looked up at the owner of the voice—her bright hazel orbs sent shivers down my spine. She cheerfully made her way toward me. She pulled her sweater down over her hands.

"I thought you got lost," she teased. Her long chestnut hair was pulled free from her pigtails and it lay down against her back like chocolate waves—I gave her a small smirk.

"Me? Lost?" I pulled her gently towards me—her warm breath sent tingles through me, "If anyone I would have thought it to be you"

She frowned and lightly smacked my arm. My smirk automatically grew bigger—and I let my orbs flash with mischief.

Seconds after she gave a cheeky grin. My attention went full on to her soft pink lips and my tongue licked my lips in response. I forced myself not to crash my lips against hers just yet… I would wait for the perfect moment when we wouldn't be disturbed.

"Let's go Natsume!" Mikan shouted out.

I gave her a small smile. "Ok, ok"

"Ah, hey, don't want to interrupt you two or anything," I looked up at Ruka. His Sapphire orbs twinkled with amusement, "but we should go or we'll miss the beginning"

Imai was leaning against the giant front doors sending a menacing glare our way. I smirked at her and pushed past into the cool night air—everyone following behind.

Central town had transformed from busy shopping center to a huge outdoor party.

I heard Mikan gasping beside me as she turned around in awe.

"Soo cool!" she grinned.

I chuckled and pulled her along following the crowds of people heading towards the big green area in the middle of central town. The decoration comity had hung up big lanterns along the buildings, trees, fences… basically everything. It made the place glow orange against the dark summer night. Small carts had been set up outside the stores to sell their products, food and all this other random stuff.

A cart advertising '**Face Painting**' caught Mikan's attention and she pulled Imai and me towards it. Ruka and Aoi quickly followed after us.

"Ohh!" Mikan and Aoi gushed. They started pointing to a bunch of different face paintings they could get.

"I want this one!" Aoi pointed to a picture of a girl with a bunny nose and whiskers. The lady smiled and gently pulled her towards a chair behind the counter. She sat down and the artist lifted up a brush and dipped it in clear paint.

I blinked.

"That's clear paint…?" I said confused.

The shop owner turned around and grinned at me.

"Watch," her voice was thick with an accent of some sort. She brushed the paint onto her face and the clear paint shimmered slightly against the light.

"Hin une castol mah…" she whispered. We gaped as the clear paint moved across her face forming the pattern of the picture. The paint settled down still in the shape of the pattern, but still it was only clear paint.

"Ja ne uppo tyi ne…" she closed her eyes. The paint shivered and moved like it was water—I glanced from the corner of my eye and saw Imai video tapping the entire thing. I looked back at Aoi and the water like substance glowed bright pink—then the clear paint fell from her face onto the ground.

We stared at the paint lying there on the ground, just lying there.

"Uhh," Ruka said still staring at the paint.

"Whoa!" Aoi gasped. We turned our heads back towards her and gasped.

Her face was decorated just like the picture, only the paint gave off a warm hue.

"Janice Overly, paint manipulator" Janice, the shopkeeper smiled at us.

"That… was so cool!" Mikan grinned, "Can you please do mine now?"

"Sure thing," Mikan sat down on the chair and she pointed to a picture of a girl with a small black sakura tree with sakura petals curling around the tree. Janice stared at her face and the picture she had picked out.

"Why did you choose this picture?" she asked—something flickered in her eyes.

"I don't know, kind of seems familiar"

The wind picked up whistling in our ears.

"This image is going to play a big role with what is yet to come…" she muttered.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you" Mikan said.

"Not to worry, you'll get through it. You'll have the guidance of someone special," Janice smiled and started brushing paint on her face, ending any questions that Mikan was about to ask.

We continued to watch in awe as Janice preformed her Alice again on Mikan's face. When she finished we thanked the lady and headed on our way again.

"Aoi!"

We all stopped in our tracks as a silver haired boy ran up to us. His deep green orbs danced in the glow of the lanterns. He ran up and swiped Aoi up into a hug.

"You—Youichi!" she gushed, a blush framing her face.

He set her down and smirked at her.

"Hey, didn't think you would come" he patted her on the head.

"Well, actually, Onii-chan let me come with him" She said running her fingers through a stray piece of hair.

His head turned towards me. His green orbs widened and then he grinned.

"Hey Nat!" he headed over to the four of us.

"Youichi," I smirked.

"Surprise to see you at one of these things," he punched me lightly in the arm.

"Yeah, well I decided to come tonight"

"Hey guys," Youichi turned around waving to Imai and Ruka. They nodded in acknowledgment.

Mikan stood quiet beside me watching the 16 year old conversing with Ruka.

"Mikan…" I nudged her. At the sound of her name Youichi turned back around.

"So this is your girl, huh?" he teased.

I scowled at him.

"I'm Youichi," he held a hand out for her to shake.

"Mikan," she smiled shaking his hand.

"So what do you think of the Hyuuga Kingdom so far?"

"It's really different from mine that's for sure!" she laughed, "but its really nice" she finished in a soft voice.

Youichi patted her lightly on the shoulder.

"Yeah,"

"Can we go, I want to see the show" Imai spoke up. She had her Baka gun out in her hand.

"Yeah, yeah!" Ruka pushed us all forward in an attempt to cool the temper of the ice queen before she tried killing us all.

*Mikan's POV*

"Woooooow!" I squealed.

I looked up at the top of the giant tent we were in—surprised to see that there wasn't a top. The sky was fully black now, with the stars blinking back towards us. I glanced around back at the inside of the cozy circus like tent. The lanterns orange glow added to the flames that were lit along a ringmaster like circle, where the performers stood practicing. People were still pilling inside and sitting down along the benches that rounded the perimeter of the stage.

"Come on," I felt my hand being tugged.

"Coming, coming," I said, bringing my attention back to the crimson-eyed flame caster in front of me.

"We need to get seats at the very front," he smirked "those are the best"

I followed behind him as he led me to 2 empty seats beside the rest of our friends. I sat down and stared in awe at the beautiful costumes the different people wore.

A girl jumped onto the stage and walked towards a microphone. She looked familiar.

"Hellooooo, Hyuuga Kingdom!" She cheered. Her bright pink hair glistened in the firelight.

I gasped.

"Isn't that Anna?" I turned and asked Hotaru. Her head turned and she stared at the girl—her expression answered my question.

"So, tonight we're going to have a blast! We have lot's of things happening tonight, it's going to be PRETTY exciting" her blue orbs twinkled.

"First off we have many talented Alice users here to show us their stuff. Which will be followed by a dance," she made a motion with her hands "food, and singing"

The crowd applauded.

"So, shall we get things started?" she asked.

The crowd went crazy again.

"I can't hear you!" she shouted "how 'bout we call out our first performer? When I say Festival, you say Alice,"

"Ready?" she took the Mic from the stand, "Festival!"

"ALICE!" everyone shouted.

"Festival!"

"ALICE!" I laughed and cheered along with them. Finally, the lights turned off leaving us in complete darkness and a hum of anticipation passed through us.

We stood there for what felt like forever, but in reality was probably only 2 minutes. Then all of a sudden the lanterns lit up like fire to gasoline, igniting all along the stage, until a figure standing in the center came into view.

The crowd burst out again.

He slowly walked up towards the edge of the stage—His face still not visible to us.

"Good evening!" he cheered. His voice bringing to life the remaining lights, showcasing his handsome face. He looked to be about 19, with rich auburn hair and vibrant green orbs.

"Oh, my gosh, it's Kenji Fujita" a girl behind me squealed.

_Kenji Fujita is a famous singer_… My orbs widened as I looked at him.

"I thought that it would be best to start off the night with some singing, what do you guys think?" he asked holding the mic towards the audience.

We all screamed yes—except of course for Hotaru, and Natsume. Hotaru was to busy tinkering with her bag in an attempt to find her video camera, her amethyst orbs twinkling with money symbols. Then Natsume was just sitting, looking up at Kenji with interest.

"I'll take that as a yes. Get up off your butts and let's get this party started!" as soon as he said that we all jumped up and I grabbed Natsume up with me. Booming music filled the air, and a drum set was air lifted from above the tent onto the stage along with the rest of the band members and their instruments. Another man jumped onto stage and tossed Kenji a bright red electric guitar.

He strummed a few cords and brought his lips back to the microphone.

"I think those benches, and" he motioned to the tent surrounding us "this tent is making the space… limited. How bout we get rid of those and get us some space to have some fun?"

In a second a bright pink powder came from above us covering everything. When the smoky air cleared the benches were gone along with the tent. Outside had been covered again with lanterns floating about in the air, and hanging up above us.

"Ok, now we can really get this party started!"

His strumming got louder and turned into a familiar tune.

(Mariana's Trench- Celebrity Status)

I look around, round, round

Look around and look it over

I take it up, up take it out and take you nowhere

Trading in who I've been for shiny celebrity skin

I like to push it and push it until my luck is over

The crowd jumped up and down, calling out his name. I grabbed Natsume's hand as everyone moved back so there was lots of space to jump and move around.

It never stop stops, never stops well you better

Think it over prima donna you don't want to sever

All the work to impress, charming girls out of their dresses

And smiling pretty, well pretty will shallow you forever

Step one, Step two, step three repeat

I pray at the church of asses in the seats

And I disappear behind the beat

I laughed when Natsume swooped me up and onto his shoulders. I looked over at Aoi and Youichi—Youichi was holding her from behind swaying along to the music. I smiled at that.

When the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

I'd never guess how we ever could have got here

You can say what you say when the lights go down

So shake, shake, shake and shut your mouth

I wonder why, why, I wonder why, why I outta

Let you wreck, resurrect whatever you wanna

I can't depend in the end you know I thought you were my friend

Just stop, just stop, just stop, I think I got it

Sorry you, sorry me, sorry every in between

Sorry everybody he will never be somebody clean

There's a piece of me they're throwing back at us

And they will buy you and sell you for celebrity status

Step one, Step two, step three repeat

I pray at the church of asses in the seats

And I disappear behind the beat

I glanced at Ruka trying to get Hotaru to put away her camera and just have fun. I heard Natsume snort and realized he was watching them too. I lightly hit his shoulder and he shrugged.

When the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

I'd never guess how we ever could have got here

You can say what you say when the lights go down

So shake, shake, shake and shut your mouth

When the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

I'd never guess how we ever could have got here

You can say what you say when the lights go down

So shake, shake, shake and shut your mouth

Look around, round, round

Look around, round, round, look around

Look around, round, round

Look around, round, round, look around

Look around, round, round

Look around, round, round, look around

Look around, round, round

Look around, round, round, look around

Look around, round, round

Look around, round, round, look around

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying

When the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

I'd never guess how we ever could have got here

You can say what you say when the lights go down

So shake, shake, shake and shut your mouth

When the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

I'd never guess how we ever could have got here

You can say what you say when the lights go down

So shake, shake, shake and shut your mouth

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying.

The music faded away, and was replaced by the crowd's cheers.

Natsume helped me back onto the ground. I smiled my thanks to him.

"Phew!" Kenji wiped his forehead.

"That was 'Celebrity Status'. Hope you enjoyed it! Next we'll start turning things down a bit"

(Linkin Park- Shadow of the day)

I close both locks below the window

I close both blinds and turn away

Sometimes solutions aren't so simple

Sometimes goodbye's the only way

People grabbed random sticks from the ground and lit them up from the flames of the lanterns. Everyone swayed them from side to side. I frowned because I didn't have anything to use. Natsume lifted my hand up and I watched as he lit a small flame on the tip of my finger it circled down and around lacing my hand in warmth. I was amazed it wasn't hurting, but I remembered how he said that he could choose whether or not the flames would hurt. I gave him a huge smile and laced my flaming fingers with his and swayed them like everyone else.

And the sun will set for you

The sun will set for you

And the shadow of the day

Will embrace the world in grey

And the sun will set for you

Pink cards and flowers on your window

Your friends all plead for you to stay

Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple

Sometimes goodbye's the only way

And the sun will set for you

The sun will set for you

And the shadow of the day

Will embrace the world in grey

And the sun will set for you

And the shadow of the day

Will embrace the world in grey

And the sun will set for you

And the shadow of the day

Will embrace the world in grey

And the sun will set for you

I squeezed his hand and sparks flew from between our fingers—I watched as flames ran up our arms.

"Wha—" I said poking his shoulder.

"Hmm," he looked down at the flames that were licking up and down our arms. "Oh, that's normal…"

"Normal…" I looked down at our arms and something caught my attention when the flame moved. "Huh, what's th—"

"Okay, Thank you for you great attention. This will be our last song," Kenji said "It'll be a slow one so if you have your special someone here go get 'em"

(Mariana's Trench- Good to you)

Everyone's around, no words are coming now.

And I can't find my breath, can we just say the rest with no sound.

And I know this isn't enough, I still don't measure up.

And I'm not prepared, sorry is never there when you need it.

And I do want you know I hold you up above everyone.

And I do want you know I think you'd be good to me

And I'd be so good to you.

I would.

I leaned my head against Natsume's shoulder, closing my hazel orbs. The fires still lacing up and down our arms—and I forgot what I had seen on my arm.

Thought I saw a sign, somewhere between the lines.

Maybe it's me, maybe I only see, what I want

But I still have your letter, just got caught between

Someone I just invented and who I really am and who I've become.

And I do want you know I hold you up above everyone.

And I do want you know I think you'd be good to me.

And I'd be so good to you.

Woahh

You bring me higher

Yeah

I would

And I do want you know I hold you up above everyone

And I do want you know I think you'd be good to me

And I'd be so good to you

I'd be good to you

I'd be good to you

I'd be so good to you…

Everyone in the crowd cheered as they all bowed.

"Thank you!" Kenji smiled "now we have some other amazing talents coming up. Hope you enjoy your night!"

They excited the stage quickly and the lights once again went out on stage—leaving it covered in complete darkness.

A spot light pin pointed on another tall figure standing on stage. He walked up towards the microphone and the light followed his every move.

"Wow! How about that, Kenji Fujita, singing here at Hyuuga Kingdom. Isn't that amazing or what?" with his voice the lanterns cam back up leaving lots of different shadows across the stage. His spiky blue hair and his captivating dark blue orbs made him absolutely gorgeous. Then with his small star tattoo under his eye made him look mysterious.

The crowd cheered to answer his question.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I can't sing though," his eyes twinkled with mischief "but I can do something else. Its called Shadow manipulation sounds funky huh? Well I can control shadows is what that basically means…" His voice faded as he looked around at the crowd. A huge smile grazed his features and he looked back up.

I looked up at Natsume. He frowned and muttered something about Shadow being back.

"What?" I questioned.

"Tell you later,"

"How 'bout I show you what it is?" he grinned.

The crowd hummed with excitement.

"Can I have a volunteer?" He looked around at the crowd and he stopped at a spot just a bit to the right of him. His smile grew more boyish. "How about you?" He pointed to a girl in the crowd. Everyone helped her up, despite her saying no.

"What's your name?" he teased—holding the microphone back to her face.

"Tsubasa, I'll kill you" she growled.

He laughed.

"Everyone, this is my dear friend Misaki," he smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders. "And my names Tsubasa"

He pulled Misaki towards center stage where the lights bounced off her.

"So, let's try this shall we?" he said.

He stepped in front of her, directly on her shadow. He lifted his right arm up above his head and Misaki copied his movements. He continued to do that for a couple minutes.

"Tsubasa…" I shivered at the sound of her voice.

"Oh boy, I think we need to try something else now" he smirked, "Misaki, want to help me out?"

She frowned. "You soo owe me"

She snapped her fingers and another version of her appeared.

"Whoa," I muttered.

They both snapped their fingers again, and then there were four of them.

"Well, how's this?" all the Misaki's asked.

"Perfect!" he grinned.

They continued to do amazing things with Misaki's clones and Tsubasa's shadow manipulation. The crowd absolutely loved it. 5 other people came on after Tsubasa got off—and it was nearly midnight.

"Sadly, this is the end of the Alice performances," Anna said "But, it's just the beginning of the dance! So let's get it pumping in here!" she shouted.

The pink powder came down again covering everything in its tracks. When it cleared, the orange lanterns had changed to colors of pink, red, green, yellow and purple. The Sakura trees surrounding us were lit up with small twinkling lights.

"Aww, pretty!" I muttered.

Natsume raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

The music started and people pilled out more underneath the different colored lanterns. The performers from earlier came out as well.

I walked towards where Hotaru and Ruka were sitting with a crowd of people around them.

"450 rabbits for 1 picture and 1000 rabbits for a video" Hotaru said smirking.

"Hotaru, really? You don—" Ruka was stopped mid word with a shot from the Baka gun. I grimaced when he landed on the ground with a thud. "Hotaru, was that necessary?" he asked rubbing the dust from his pants.

"Yes, you were driving away my customers," she stared blankly at him.

He groaned and sat back down.

"It's ok Ruka, maybe some day you'll get immune to the Baka gun" Natsume smirked.

I giggled and sat down beside him.

"You guys aren't going to go dance?" Ruka asked.

"I need to sit after all that other excitement," I replied, taking a sip from a drink that was handed to me from Ruka.

"Yeah, Polka can't take being up past her bed time,"

I turned around and glared at him. "My name isn't Polka,"

He smirked and gulped down his own drink. His finger ran up and down my arm under the table and a blush crept to my face. He lit another small flame and made it run along my arm again and again.

I giggled a tad, and his finger stopped and made its way back to my hand—lacing his fingers with mine. A slow song came on and he pulled me up from my chair.

"Come on Polka," I smiled and let him lead me to the dance floor.

I placed my head on his chest and we moved in a circle along to the song. I could feel the warmth from his fingers seeping through my sweater.

"Hey, Mikan," I looked up at him.

"Hmm?"

He planted a brief kiss on my lips. I blushed when he pulled away—his crimson orbs stared into mine, freezing me in place.

"I love you," he muttered.

I blushed a deeper shade of red.

"I love you too," I whispered, giving him a small smile.

He gave me a smile.

I glanced over his shoulder at Hotaru and Ruka dancing just a couple feet away. Hotaru was taking pictures of Ruka and he was blushing more and more each time. I laughed at that.

*1 hour later*

The Sakura tree was still decorated with twinkle lights when we made our way towards it.

"Do you always have it lit up like this?" I glanced at Natsume.

"Yeah, gives it a mysterious feel to it" he gave me a boyish grin, "Looks like your face paint too" he teased.

I smiled.

"Yeah, I can see that"

We were standing underneath of the glistening tree now. I looked up and rested my hand on the rough bark.

I felt his fingers running along my arm again, and I embraced the flame he had running along my skin. I leaned back against his chest—and a hot tingling formed just above my elbow. My orbs widened when the wind whipped around us covering us in a shell of sakura petals. My hair hid my face and the heat above my elbow intensified. Then before we could say anything the wind still and nothing moved.

I turned around and stared into his wide crimson orbs.

"What was that?" we both muttered.

"I don't know," we said again.

We blinked and burst out laughing.

"Don't copy me," I giggled.

"Well, don't copy me"

I rested my back against the tree and looked back up at the maze of pink and browns.

"Hey," I looked up to see his face baffled "what's on your arm?"

I totally forgot about the burning on my arm.

"Huh? I don't know, when the wind picked up something burned against my arm…"

"No, I mean there's something on your arm" he grabbed my arm and gently lifted up my sleeve.

I stared at my arm in shock.

"What is that" I muttered.

I tentatively touched it, and rubbed the spot.

"Hey, your face paint is gone too" he said touching my cheek.

I looked up at him wide eyed then back down to my arm. I stared at the black tattoo like image above my elbow. It was of a huge black sakura tree, and it was sitting on a big hill—much like the one from back home.

"What is this…" I poked the little black image. Confusion flooding through me.

_Big role with what is yet to come… _

_Mi-chan…_

"Maybe, it's something to do with the magic paint" Natsume suggested.

"Maybe,"

"Come on, let's get back inside"

* * *

**That's it for Chapter 12, hope you enjoyed it after such a long wait.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter;**

**bunnyjumps**

**Kylee-Cat**

**VeronicaLover123**

**Thank you soo, soo much for your reviews :D they always brighten my day to read them ^.^**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hellooo, Everybody! ^.^**

**This is surprising for me, I'm actually updating early :P haha**

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 13:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

_"Nat!" I ran up to my friend encircling him in a huge hug._

_"Hey, get off me" the crimson eyed lad grumbled._

_"But, but, Nat!" tears filled my eyes._

_"He-Hey, don't cry," he wiped away the tears that were streaming down my face. "I didn't mean it to make you cry"_

_"I missed you soo much!" I sniffled. He sighed and stared at me. "What you didn't miss me?" I asked gnawing on my lip._

_"Hn," I smiled up at the boy. _

_"Hehe," I gave him a toothy grin. "I'm so happy my parents brought me here again"_

_Nat scowled and ruffled his raven locks. Grabbing my wrist he pulled me along with him._

_"Where are we going, Nat?"_

_"Surprise" _

_"Can I hve a hint?"_

_"No,"_

_"Pleeeease"_

_"No"_

_"Pleeeease!"_

_He sighed. "Fine,"_

_"Yay!"_

_"Its just for you, and is similiar to your last name"_

_"Ehh, Sakura?" I frowned, "What's it have to do with Sakura?"_

_We walked in silence for a while._

_"Nevermind, were here," I looked up at the beautiful garden we were standng in. I looked over and I could see people dancing inside._

_"Prettyyyy~" I squealed. I walked up to a big open spot. "Why isn't there anything here?" I asked looking at him with my big hazel orbs._

_He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was a big seed._

_"What's that?" I asked._

_"A sakura seed"_

_"Wooow, really?"_

_He nodded._

_"So what are you gong to do with it?"_

_"Plant it, so the next time you come, you can see a big Sakura tree" he dug into the ground and gently set the seed inside. "Do you want to do the honors?"_

_I sat down beside him and grabbed a handful of dirt. I poured the dirt over top an patted it down, rubbing my cheek I looked up and grinned at him._

_He smirked. "Baka~"_

_"What?" I asked wide eyed._

_He put his hand on my cheek. "You have dirt all over your face now"_

_"What!" I quickly placed my hand on my cheek, only to cover his hand with mine. "Oh, I'm sorry," I pulled my hand back._

_"It's fine," he said grabbing my hand again. I blushed and let him lace his fingers with mine._

_"We should go back inside," he turned away so I couldn't see his face._

_"Okay," I squeezed his hand and followed beside him in silence._

I woke up to the bright rays of light in my face, I thought about the little boy in my dream- I could never remember his face after what happened in the forest.

_Feels like I know him though _I thought.

Looking down at my arm, I remembered the tattoo and decided I would try to wash it off.

The flickering candles in the bathroom bounced off my newly acquired tattoo. I poked a finger in the center of it while I turned on the sink—soaking a hand towel.

"Let's get this thing off…" I gnawed on my bottom lip.

I pressed the warm towel to my skin and rubbed.

I lifted the towel and sighed in frustration.

"Ugh," I groaned "What is this?"

I stared at the black sakura tree above my elbow. Sighing, I traced the detail of the branches, letting my finger run down the hill.

"Just like home…" I whispered. Getting up from my seat in front of the mirror.

…_Mi-chan…_

_Knock, Knock._

"Coming!" I ran to the door.

"Oh, hey Hotaru!" I let her move into the room.

She plopped down on my bed, pulled out one of her inventions, and started tinkering with it.

I sweatdropped.

"What's that?" I asked sitting on the floor in front of her feet. She raised her amethyst orbs and looked at me.

"New invention," she muttered—taking a hammer out of her bag.

"I see," I laughed nervously.

"I heard you got a tattoo," she continued monotone, "and you don't know how it got there"

"Huh?" I looked down at the Sakura tree tattoo, "yeah, I don't know how. Last night it wasn't there, then this wind came and there was a burning… and now I have this" I lifted my elbow up.

She dropped her hammer on the bed and narrowed her orbs at the tattoo. I watched her pull a bag from behind her and I raised an eyebrow, because I could've sworn she didn't come in here with a bag.

"Invisible backpack," she answered my question.

"Cool," I whistled.

She brought a small scanner like object from her bag and set it on her lap. Then she pulled out a bunch of wires and a weird helmet thing.

"Sit on that chair over there," she pointed to the desk on the opposite end of the room. I did as  
I was told.

"I'm going to run some tests on you…" Hotaru said. She pulled out a hair band pulling her bangs out of her face.

My heart rate started to increase.

"Your what!" I asked.

"I'm not going to kill you," she smirked. I soo didn't like her expression right now.

She began plugging all the wires into a computer she had set up onto of the desk behind me.

"What are you going to do?" I asked—backing away from the sharp wires she had started putting close to me.

"That tattoo seems… different. I'm checking for any unusual signs," Hotaru replied—sticking one of the wires into my arm. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying.

"I need to see if there's any weird things going on in your body as well," she said, poking a couple more in.

I nodded my head as she set the helmet on, and hooked it up to the computer.

"Ok, I'll start running the tests now"

I sat there playing with a random string that was sticking out of my sweater. Then all a sudden the door burst open and a cheerful Aoi came in.

"Hey guys! Guess wha—" her crimson orbs widened when her gaze landed on us. She stopped mid step. "Uhh, what you guys up too?"

I laughed at her freaked out expression.

"We're trying to find out what this tattoo is," I pointed to the Sakura tree above my elbow.

"Whoa! That's just like the face paint from yesterday," she explained plopping down on my bed.

"I know, weird huh? The face paint disappeared right when this," I poked the tattoo "appeared"

"Wow,"

Hotaru grabbed her scanner from the bed and she attached a wire to it.

"Ok, I'm going to test the tattoo for any thing," she pressed a button and it started beeping.

She held it to my tattoo.

_Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep._

"Ah, that's weird," her brow furrowed.

…_Mi-chan…_

"What?" Aoi and I asked.

"I'm getting a radio frequency from your tattoo…" she looked at me with confused orbs.

…_Mi-chan…_

"What?" I frowned, "how is that possible?"

I tentatively rubbed the Sakura tree.

"I don't know," she put the scanner down "but I'm going to find out. Your done now," she pulled the wires out in one swift movement and peeled the helmet off.

_A radio frequency… _I thought. I frowned and jumped off the bed.

"Oh!" Aoi shouted out.

I jumped and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Hehe, sorry. I remembered why I came here," Aoi gushed "we have guests! And we need to get dressed in kimonos, we're going to have lunch with their families "

"It's already lunch time?" I scrunched my nose.

"Yup! You and Hotaru must've been really caught up with what you were doing," Aoi grinned "so go get dressed, you can't stay in your PJ's the entire day"

"Okay," I got up and followed them to the door "I'll meet you guys in the hall in a couple minutes"

I shut the door and made my way inside the closet. I went to the kimonos and grabbed a light pink kimono—much like the one that was made to me back at home.

"Uhh," I twirled around trying to realize what I was forgetting. I passed by a mirror and shrieked. My hair was an utter mess!

I grabbed my brush and quickly combed out all the knots. Then I pulled my hair into a loose braid and threw it over my shoulder. Satisfied, I added a pink bow to keep it in place.

Passing by the mirror again, I stared at the spot where the small Sakura tree tattoo was covered. I'd have to admit the tattoo was absolutely gorgeous, and it was like a family crest in a way…

I grabbed my pouch and buried my face in it—letting the scent of the fabric sooth me.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Mikan!" Aoi called from the door.

"Coming!" I put the pouch back down and ran to the door to where my friends were waiting. Hotaru had chosen a dark purple kimono. It was simple, yet on her it looked amazing! It brought out her beautiful amethyst orbs and her silky raven locks.

Aoi had chosen a dark chocolate brown kimono with a white bow around the waist. Her hair was tied in an elegant bun that rested on her shoulder.

"Let's go!" Aoi cheered.

*A couple minutes later*

We bowed as we entered the room.

"Glad you could join us ladies," Natsume's father said "we were just about to start. Please sit and enjoy"

We bowed again and sat down beside Ruka and Natsume. I looked at the four people who sat in front of us—and I recognized 2 of them right away. It was the shadow manipulator and the girl who can clone herself! What were their names…? Tsubasa and Misaki! I looked in awe at them.

_Who would've thought they were actually Royal's_.

_Oh, I forgot to tell you last night. _Natsume's voice suddenly murmured. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow, telling him to continue.

_You know how I said 'Shadow's back'?_

_Yeah?_

_Well that's him. He used to come here all the time when Ruka and I were just kids._

_Whoa, really?_

_Yeah. But then they had trouble in their kingdom with the Kozumi's, so they married Tsubasa and Misaki together to form a stronger alliance between both their kingdoms to fight them off._

I looked at Tsubasa and Misaki as they silently bickered back and forth. I looked back down and dug into my food, I'm absolutely starved—how long were Hotaru and I up there doing tests for?

"Did you find out anything about the tattoo?" Natsume leaned towards me.

I nodded.

"There's some kind of radio frequency coming from the tattoo, we don't know why though. Hotaru said she was going to take the data she collected and try to locate where the signal is coming from" I whispered.

"Radio frequency?" he raised an eyebrow, "how can that be?"

I shrugged and took a sip from my tea.

"So, what brings you back Tsubasa?" Ruka asked.

Tsubasa looked up from Misaki and grinned at Ruka.

"We heard about you and Natsume returning from your captivity," his gaze rested on me "and how you rescued the Sakura princess"

Tsubasa held out his hand towards me, his smile never leaving. I brought my hand out and shook his.

"Mikan, right?" he questioned.

"Yup, that's me," I smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he released my hand "now, now, Natsume. I'm not going to do anything to her. You can stop glaring at me"

Tsubasa's hair caught fire and Natsume snorted.

"Woops," he muttered.

Tsubasa grinned at Natsume. "Never change, do you?"

"Hn,"

*An hour later*

We had all changed from our kimonos after lunch. I put on a black Tee with jean short shorts, and took my hair out of the braid so it was lying down my back.

I ran through the ballroom, heading towards the door that led to the big Sakura tree.

"Ah, Mikan's here!" Aoi shouted at the teens that were lying on the grass under the shadow of the tree's trunk. They sat up as I approached. Hotaru was still tinkering with her laptop trying to find where the frequency was coming from.

I dropped to the ground beside her.

"Find anything new?" I asked.

"No,"

I sighed and lay down on the cool grass staring at my arm.

"What exactly were you doing when you realized you had it?" She asked.

I explained to her about how Natsume and I had been standing by the tree. I pressed my hand against the bark and leaned into Natsume—then this big wind came, and caused the sakura petals to fly around us, putting us in a shell of petals. Then there was a burning and it was over.

"Was their anything else going on?"

I thought for a second.

"Oh! Um, Natsume was using his fire to make it run up and down my arms before the wind picked up" I blushed.

Hotaru raised an eyebrow and peered at Natsume how sat conversing with Ruka. Natsume looked up and gave us a questioning look.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you notice anything strange last night?" Hotaru glared at Natsume.

"No," he smirked.

Ruka frowned.

"Wasn't that paint manipulator going on about something when she was painting Mikan's face? Something about it being ok, because she would have help from someone special?" Ruka muttered.

My brow furrowed as I tried to remember.

"Ah, yeah! But the wind was too loud so we didn't hear what she said before that…" I said rubbing my head.

Tsubasa and Misaki looked over at us.

"What are you guys gong on about?" Tsubasa asked heading in or direction.

"Last night I got this weird tattoo…" I showed him my arm. Misaki came up beside me and gently touched it.

"It's pretty," she murmured. This was the first time I actually got a good view of her. She was extremely pretty—she had shoulder length pink hair and dark maroon colored orbs. "Fortune tellers usually say you get tattoo's that have meaning somehow. Or if you have paint on your face, it can be changed into a permanent tattoo from someone with a powerful Alice…"

My orbs widened. "What do you mean?"

She looked at me. "Well this one legend says, if someone was trying to contact you, if the person had a powerful Alice they could form a way of reaching them by putting a mark on them that only they would recognize where its from. Then when the person with the mark learns how to unlock the power they can communicate. Its said that marking someone with Telepathy is the best mark ever made—and that those 2 people can communicate from huge distances apart!" She grinned, "that's not all though. Apparently, once the person marked learns how to use the mark, they can mark other people as well. But they can also make another kind of mark, a really special kind, that mark would be able to do many other things. The new mark would be stronger, it would give the two people a 'bond', being able to tell where that person is, when there hurt, etc. Only this mark can only be used between lovers,"

"Whoa," I muttered.

"Yup!" Misaki leaned back, "that's pretty weird huh? Some people can even mark people who may have death coming to them soon. But that mark is always a picture of a dying rose"

I nodded.

"So, your tattoo could be someone trying to reach you!" Aoi bounced on her heels, "who do you think it could be?"

…_Mi-chan…_

I stared down at the Sakura tree tattoo and I got the feeling something big was coming, and I didn't like it. I closed my eyes and thought about the Sakura tree back at home, how it sat on the top of the hill sheltering the temple. I wondered if it was still there, or if the Koizumi's had cut it down. Tears stung at the back of my throat.

I opened my hazel orbs quickly.

"What is it?" Aoi asked—her orbs wide, "You totally just spaced out"

I looked down at the tattoo, studying it. The sakura tree was beautiful and it stood out tall on top of a hill… sakura tree on a hill…

"Oh, my gosh," I breathed. I looked up at Hotaru; her orbs were wide too. She lifted my arm and traced the tree.

"This is like…" she whispered.

"The tree back home," I gasped "How could I not have put that together!"

"That means someone from your kingdom marked you," Misaki calmly whispered.

"But who? I didn't even know that this was possible," I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Umm, didn't you say that there was a paint manipulator?" Tsubasa asked. We all stared at him.

"Yeah," Ruka said "She was going on about something too, but we didn't really hear what she said"

"Maybe she knows something," he muttered "back at my kingdom, there was this old lady who always walked the market streets rambling on about nothing. Everyone thought she was crazy, because she would paint these crazy pictures of people being killed and fighting on the streets. Then we had reports of people getting weird flowers on their bodies and they couldn't get them off. A week later they all died from a Koizumi attack."

"The old lady was questioned and it turned out she was able to use paint to tell the future and people who would be affected by it would be marked, as if to give them a warning. But no one had believed what the lady was saying so they didn't listen to her and more people ended up dying from Koizumi," Tsubasa played with a random piece of grass.

"So what happened then?" Natsume asked.

"They started to believe her and the Koizumi didn't get anyone else," he said "she painted a picture of them finding the Koizumi's camp, and sure enough they found it and took them out"

"I think we need to find Janice," Ruka looked at us.

"Agreed," we all said.

"Maybe she knows who marked me, or how to use it" I murmured.

"Probably," Hotaru muttered, "But I think we need to look more into the history of these 'marks'"

"How'd we do that?"

"I know!" Aoi jumped up, "everyone follow me"

We ran after Aoi as she headed back through the ballroom and down a secret set of stairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked. I looked around us. We were in a small corridor; it was all stone except for the old wooden doors and the torches that lit the way.

"We're in the basement. This is where we keep all the really important books," Aoi said grabbing a torch and giving it to Natsume to lead the way. "I think there is history books here too"

"Smart little girl," Tsubasa grinned.

She giggled and we all quickly head after the flickering light that was Natsume. When we finally caught up to him he was already pushing open an old wooden door. Musty smells wafted in the air around us when we walked into the dark room. Natsume handed Tsubasa the torch and lit up his flames exposing the room.

The walls were covered with shelves of old moldy books, and there was a big wooden table sitting in the middle of the room. Candles were placed everywhere around the room and Natsume lit them all up.

"The history books are right here," Aoi walked up to one of the shelves at the far end of the room. She grabbed a huge book off and blew the cover free of the dust. "Grab a book and start searching"

I walked up to the shelf and scanned the different titles trying to find something that stood out. Finally, I saw one that seemed promising. There wasn't a title except for a weird looking symbol and the cover was made of old brown leather. I stepped on my tiptoes in an attempt to reach it.

"Here, I'll get it"

Natsume handed me the book and I smiled up at him.

"Thank you!"

"Mind if I join you?" he motioned to the book.

"Yeah, sure" He sat down against the cold stone floor and pulled me down on his lap. I blushed and peeled open the cover looking at the first page.

"Wow, this seems really old," he muttered turning the pages. I stopped him at a page that said 'Rights of Marking'.

_When you're marking someone you must start off with one of their possessions to be able to mark them. The said person must have at least something on their face that's a liquid like substance. Whether it is paint or water. The two people involved with marking must be powerful enough to do the ritual. The person marking them will need to have a lit candle and burn the possession of the person they are trying to mark. Concentration is key here, its best if you can do this with the person you are trying to mark right in front of you. But if you can't you'll need to use scrying to find them. If you do have the person in front of you, pour water in front of them so you can see both of your reflections. Once you have achieved this, you can begin with the second step. Holding the candle, turn it upside down in their reflection and let the ashes of the burnt object fall into the water. Let the ashes sit in the water until you see them change color. Say 'Hime, jinn cue, poll Ute' clearly, then you need to put 2 drops of your blood into the water. That completes the process. The last step is to paint a picture on the ground of what your mark is, set your candle on top, and breath in the smoke. The mark should appear on both of you shortly after._

I turned the page and started to read it again.

_If you are in a situation when you're marked without having the person whom marked you close to you. You need to complete another ritual. This ritual will be different because you more then likely won't have any of their possessions with you. Grabbing two candles set them in front of you on the floor. Light them and drop 2 drops of blood in each flame. Saying the words 'Hime, jinn cue, poll Ute' take a hand full of water and pour it between the two candles—make sure that both candles are sitting in water. Next take 2 pieces of your hair and set it down in the water. You should see a change in the waters color and texture. Grabbing the 2 pieces of hair put one in each flame and breath in. You should be able to hear the other person now, and unlock your mark. You now also have the power to use marks and mark other people._

"Guys!" I called out, "we found something"

Everyone rushed towards us and I let them read what Natsume and I had found.

"I guess we know what we have to do," Tsubasa said.

"The ritual," we all concluded.

* * *

**Chapter 13, is done. Did you guys enjoy this one? ^.^**

****Ah, the dream at the beginning Natsume also had too.****

**Thank you's too;**

**VeronicaLover123- Thank you, glad you like it~**

**Kylee-Cat- The Sakura tree plays a kind of ''weird'' role right now. But I have something planned for it... just gotta figure out how to add it in.**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Thank you, and I'll try**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys,**

**I kind of tried to explain the whole 'marking' thing again, so I hope it makes a tad more sense.**

**Enjoy. ^.^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 14:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

"Mikan! Hurry up!"

"Coming!" I yelled. Grabbing my sweater and shades off the bed. I ran out the door following Aoi down the hallway.

…_Mi-Chan…_

"I got her," Aoi told the people waiting at the giant door leading outside.

"Finally," Hotaru muttered. Racing down the remainder of the steps, I joined my friends.

I smiled sheepishly at my best friend, earning a glare in return.

"Let's go," Tsubasa ran a hand through his locks "we'll miss the morning market"

I followed him out the door and into the black carriage that waited for us. I put my black shades on the top of my head and pulled my sweater on—it was still cold out. I watched the sun rising up from the mountains; today was going to be one interesting day.

*Natsume's POV*

Today we were going to the market in an attempt to find Janice, the paint manipulator, in hopes that she knows something about what the mark is and who did it.

I huffed out a breath and looked at the scenery of the sunrise—still to tired to really pay attention to anything else.

"So what's the game plan?" Ruka asked. His voice breaking the silence that filled the coach. I looked up into the sapphire orbs of my best friend.

"Find the paint manipulator," I sighed. I ran a hand through my messy hair.

"And get answers," Mikan said—leaning her head on my shoulder. She dozed off shortly after.

I smirked down at the brunette.

"I guess staying up late in the basement wasn't the best idea," Aoi yawned.

"Agreed," Misaki muttered. I looked around at my half awake friends—amusement twinkling in my crimson orbs.

The carriage stopped and the guard, Koko, opened the door for us.

"Thanks," I muttered to the mind reader. I grabbed Mikan bridal style and stepped out into the bustling crowd.

He bowed. "What time do you want us back by?" he asked.

I looked around at the crowded streets.

"Get us at noon," I told him. He nodded and closed the carriage door, taking off again.

"Let's get started shall we?" Ruka asked grabbing Imai's hand. I smirked at the small blush on her face.

"Shut it Hyuuga,"

I gave her an evil grin and looked down at the girl stirring in my arms. Her orbs opened revealing her beautiful hazel eyes. I neutralized my expression and waited for her to regain full consciousness.

"Huh? Natsume," she mumbled wiping the sleep out of her eyes.

_Aw, she's just so cute. _I mentally slapped myself. Did I really just say 'cute'—In my head? I scowled.

"Where already here?" she looked at me with tired orbs.

"Yeah," I set her back down on her feet. She stretched her arms up to the sky, letting out a satisfied moan. I fought back against the urge to embrace her in my arms. Curse hormones.

"So, where was it again we saw the cart for face painting?" Aoi looked up at us.

I shrugged and pointed down into the busy after noon market. Ah, and so we start the wild hunt.

I wrapped my arm around Mikan's waist as we made our way into the bustling crowd. She smiled up at me and I gave her a small grin in return.

"Do you think Janice is like that old lady from Tsubasa's story?" Mikan spoke up.

I shrugged.

"I don't think so, she could tell and mark people who where going to die. You're not going to die," I frowned at the last part. There was no way I would let that happen.

"I guess your right," she sighed. I looked down at her concerned face.

I squeezed her closer to me. "Don't get so worked up about it"

"Hey!" I looked up at Aoi, "Is this it?"

I followed her finger to a building stuck in between two different clothing stores. It was a tiny brick structure; it looked out of place beside the modern clothing stores. We walked up to the old looking glass door.

JANICE'S FACE PAINTING

"I think were at the right place," Ruka said. He pushed open the shop door and we heard a bell ring from the movement.

"Hello~" a lady came from behind a crowded counter. "How may I help you?"

Hotaru and Ruka walked up to the lady and started chatting with her. I took that chance to look around the shop. I stared at the voodoo dolls hanging on the ceiling. I blinked and shrugged it off. I glanced around again. This place was crowded with so much junk it wasn't even funny. It didn't even look like a face paint shop, it looked more like some place you would get your fortune read, with all these voodoo dolls, skulls… you can probably imagine a whole bunch of other things. I walked back to where Ruka was chatting with the lady.

"…Oh, sorry dear. Janice isn't here right now," the lady said "Is there any way I can help you?"

"Well…" Ruka said looking back at us, "Actually, we came here because of my friend"

Mikan went forward and showed the lady her tattoo. The lady gasped.

"You see, at the festival Janice painted a sakura tree on my face. Then at the end of the day I got this tattoo,"

"That's no tattoo," she held Mikan's arm, putting a pair of glasses on. "You've been marked"

"I haven't seen these for a long time," she continued. She went behind the counter and brought back a book. She skimmed through it and stopped at a page. Blowing off the dust she turned it towards us to read.

_Those amongst us who have been marked usually follow under one of these topics._

_Marked by a lover._

_Two lovers who want to stay connected at all times usually are granted with a mark. This mark enables the lovers to form a bond. Bonds that will allow them to telepathically communicate, feel each other's emotions and tell where there partner is located at all times, no matter how far apart they are. If this mark comes without trying to form a connection, this usually foretells people who will be together for a long time._

_Marked by death._

_Being marked by death usually means one thing, death. This mark is distinct and cannot be confused with any others. This mark is of a single dying rose. It has no power in it, and is just there to tell you of death coming. The secret to this mark is that if you find someone with the Alice of marking, you can get it removed and escape from death._

_Mark of Ritual._

_This mark is done through ritual. Done face to face, a series of different things take place forming a connection between the two people. Once this connection is made, a painting or symbol is drawn either on the ground in front of both people or on each other's skin, sealing the connection between them. Allowing a telepathic connection to be formed. If the ritual is done correctly, and the two people have powerful Alice's, they will be granted the Alice of Marking._

_Mark of Searching._

_This mark is done when you are apart from someone very special. Usually, only one person does this ritual, to form a connection with the other. The ritual taken is the same as the one for Mark of Ritual. Once the ritual is in place, you must use scrying to make the other person's presence known. Then the ordinary connection can be formed and you will have a telepathy connection. (This mark has difficulties for the other person who does not know they have been marked. For more information, turn to page 104)._

The old lady pushed her glasses up.

"Taking in what your friend here has told me, I'm guessing your mark is that of 'Mark of Searching'" the lady said, "Do you have any idea how to use the mark?"

Mikan shook her head no. The lady flipped the book facing her again and turned the pages. Giving it back to us, we started reading again.

_Mark of Searching_

_You've been marked and you don't know it. It's quite the common occurrence, don't fret. It's simple to 'unlock' your mark so that your connection may be completed fully. Simply perform the ritual from Mark of Ritual, minus the other person, and you shall soon hear the voice of the person trying to telepathically reach you. The only difficulty here is not knowing who has marked you. That you won't know until you hear their voice. The only clue you have is the image the mark is, that usually shows where the person marking you is from._

_Mark of Searching is the most common way to gain the Alice of Marking, so once you have completed the ritual and hear the voice of your marker, do not worry if you notice a new power inside of you._

We all stared at the mark on Mikan's arm. So now we know what it is, we have to perform that ritual now huh?

"So you probably want to know how to do that ritual now right?" the lady asked. I blinked; can she read minds or what?

"No, I can't read minds, I can see 2 minutes into the future" she said before I could open my mouth.

Everyone looked at me and I just shrugged. The shop keeper went back behind her massive counter and came back again carrying a big purple candle, a piece of lavender and what looked like a canteen of water.

"I know you've already read a book telling you didn't need these things," she said as she carefully set them into a bag. "But I'll tell you now, these are much more important in helping you reach your goal. And using these to complete the ritual will help you later on in your future more than you can understand right now"

She grabbed a notepad of the table and started scribbling fiercely onto it. She ripped out all the other pages and set the 'instructions' I'm guessing, into the bag along with the other ingredients.

"Yes, instruction's," she handed Mikan the bag and closed her hands around hers. The old lady frowned. "You… part of your memory has been blocked, but…"

The old lady looked around and her gaze rested on me. She came forward and grabbed my hands into her old hands.

"The same with you,"

"Wha—" Mikan and me both started to ask. I saw a flicker of something on Mikan's face—and I went deep into thought.

"_Nat!" the faceless girl sang out. "Did you miss me?" she giggled._

_I scowled at the bubbly brunette. "No,"_

_She burst into tears, sobbing—and I started to panic. "He-hey, I didn't mean for it to make you cry," I hastily wiped her tears off her cheeks._

_She eventually gave me a cheery grin. Ugh, this girl makes me crazy I thought._

The faceless girl… I feel like I know her. I dragged a hand through my raven locks, pushing my bangs back from my face.

The lady looked back and forth between us.

"Do you have a feeling you know what I'm talking about?" I nodded along with Mikan. She gave us both a small smile. "Not to fret you two, I have something that will help the both of you"

She looked around at our staring and gaping friends. "But first, dears, you all must leave us along" she ushered everyone except for Mikan and me out. "Okay, follow me"

Mikan and I exchanged looks before following after her. I grasped her hand when we disappeared into the back room. I pushed back a silky black curtain and let my eyes adjust to the dark room—which was only lit by dozens of candles. The dark purple walls were lined with shelves of different kinds of mixes, candles, books, you name it. What is this some kind of magic stockroom?

"Actually, yes" The old lady spoke from behind one of the many shelves. I hid my surprise and followed her through the maze of different shelves. Mikan trotting closely behind.

Was this lady sure she couldn't read minds? She turned around and winked. I looked back at Mikan but of course she hadn't caught it. Weeeird.

"First off, you both need to take this potion," she handed me a pink bubbly liquid. "DON'T, drink this 'til you're alone and at home. I suggest you do it at night, so you won't have the ritual interrupted"

I added the potion into the silk pouch she had given me. We followed her to a section with a bunch of different flowers.

"You need to chop the rose up finely and add it into the potion. Then dip the lavender into the candle and let it burn and drop it into the silver pot," she wiggled her fingers as she hovered over the different flowers. Finally, she put a purple rose into the pouch and a stem of lavender. She ran over to the opposite side and grabbed a bright red candle, and a silver pot big enough for two cups to fit inside. I opened the bag but she shook her head.

"We should put the heavier things into a different bag, we don't want to crush those," she pointed to the bag I was holding.

"Smart idea," Mikan piped up.

"And lastly," she opened a canteen of something and took a deep breath in. "One cup of white wine. Not to worry there's no alcohol,"

She still held the candle and silver pot balanced in her arms, and then she added the canteen on top. We followed her back to the door and she grabbed another silky black bag. She set the 3 items inside and tied it shut.

"Now follow me, I'll make you an instruction sheet so you don't forget" we headed towards a big oak desk pushed against the only available space in the room. She sat down and grabbed a big book out. She flipped through it vigorously then continued to rip a page out. She set it carefully on top of the wood and set the book back.

"What's that?" Mikan asked— peeking her head around my arm.

"A very old recipe, this is what you need to follow when you do this," she started scribbling down on a blank piece of paper.

"Follow that paper and this and it will help you regain those precious memory's" she put the two pages into an empty journal and set it into another black silk bag. She grabbed my free hand and Mikan's. "Please be careful, I sense bad things coming,"

I stared at the lady for what felt like an eternity.

"We will, thank you," Mikan whispered, "what do we owe you?"

The lady looked at us appalled. Then she smiled.

"You owe me nothing, it's so nice to see young love these days. I just thought it would be better for the both of you"

I felt my cheeks heat but I just shook it off. I bowed in thanks, then grabbed Mikan's hand and made a beeline to the door.

"Remember, do this alone! Don't tell anyone what I showed you, or told you!" the lady yelled at us. I turned around and looked at her.

_We won't _I thought. She smiled and waved us off. Holding the bags tightly in my grip and Mikan's hand in the other I pushed the door open to see our friends bickering against the window.

Tsubasa and Misaki were bickering back and forth at each other, and Imai with Ruka was no different.

"I'm hungry," Imai bluntly said staring at Ruka. Ruka rubbed the back of his head. Aoi stared at the two biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"I-I'm sure they won't be much longer," Ruka looked in our direction. Relief flooded to his face. "Look! They're right there"

"Good," she stared at us blankly "Anna's café, now."

Mikan chuckled nervously and we made our way towards the café to eat.

*Time skip*

"What can I get for you?" Nonoko asked.

"Ice tea for everyone, and 3 strawberry shortcakes, 3 chocolate cakes, and 1 biscuit please. That will be all," Tsubasa smiled up at Nonoko.

"I'll be right back with your orders!" she sped away towards the kitchen.

"So, what happened to you two in the shop?" Ruka asked, turning his fork over and over again.

"Nothing much," I said. I glanced at Mikan from the corner of my eye.

_Any idea why we can't tell them? _I asked her.

_Nope, _I could hear the disappointment in her voice. _I really want to tell Hotaru, But—Ohh! Food's here!_

I mentally forehead smacked myself.

"Baka," I muttered under my breath. I watched as Anna came and placed our drinks out in front of us. Nonoko following shortly after.

I breathed in the scent of my favorite food, strawberries. I looked over at Mikan to see her already diving into her strawberry shortcake. I shook my head and started eating my own.

"That place was really creepy," Misaki muttered.

"Yeah, I think I'll have nightmares," Aoi said, fake shuttering.

Misaki laughed at her.

"No, you haven't seen Misaki when she's mad," Tsubasa chuckled "Now, that's scary"

I smirked at Tsubasa. Bad move, I thought.

"Tsubasa…" Misaki slowly said his name—her maroon orbs flashed dangerously. He froze from where he was leaning over his chocolate cake.

"No-now Misaki I was only—" Tsubasa began.

SMACK

Misaki hit him in the back of the head with a paper fan. The movement causing him to lurch forward… right into his cake.

"That'll teach you," Misaki grinned. She started biting into her own cake again; chewing happily.

I snorted and Aoi burst into a fit of giggles. Mikan following shortly after. I bit my lip in an attempt to stay cool, barely succeeding. I let out a small chuckle when Tsubasa lifted his chocolate covered face.

Imai instantly started taking pictures like crazy.

He licked his lips free of the chocolate and he wiped the chocolate out of his eyes. Misaki smirked.

"You know, you look better like that" Aoi giggled.

"Ye-yeah, Tsubasa" Mikan agreed. The two girls burst into another fit of giggles again. Tsubasa frowned and wiped the remaining chocolate off his face with his napkin.

"I don't think that was very smart to say," Ruka laughed.

"Obviously," Tsubasa grumbled. He ran a hand through his now chocolate bangs.

We continued to eat our cakes while Tsubasa ran off to the bathroom.

"When do you think we should do the ritual for Mikan's mark?" Ruka asked—he sipped from his drink.

_When are we going to do that other ritual? _Mikan's voice peeped up in my mind.

"How 'bout tomorrow?" Misaki suggested.

_How about tonight, after everyone goes to bed? _I suggested.

"Tomorrow sounds good," Aoi said. "We all need to rest up anyways"

_Okay, so where?_

_Uhh, how about your room? _I repeated the last 3 lines in my head. Ah, this wouldn't sound good to someone who was listening in on our conversation. I sipped my ice tea.

"Does that sound good to you Mikan?" Ruka asked the grinning brunette.

_That sounds good. We can use the bathroom so no one smells the smoke._

"Yup!" she took a drink of her ice tea.

_Ok, I'll come by your room at midnight._

"Are we ready to go then?" Hotaru asked bluntly. I checked my watch—It was 10 minutes to noon.

I walked up to Nonoko and pulled out a couple bills to pay for our meal—well, goodies. I saw a bunch of Mikan's favorite star cookies so I bought a dozen for tonight. While it was being packaged I looked over at our table. Tsubasa had just joined them and they were all teasing him—while Imai held pictures of his chocolate covered face in front of him.

"Here you are, Natsume" I looked back at Nonoko and thanked her.

I walked back over to our table and swooped up all the bags from Janice's Face Painting.

"We ready?" I asked covering the package with the black silk bags.

"Yup!" Aoi jumped up taking one last sip from her drink. Everyone quickly followed after her lead.

We headed back out onto the street. The morning market was now calming down and there wasn't as much foot traffic wandering around.

I glanced at my watch again; it was 5 minutes to noon.

"We have 5 minutes," I spoke out.

"Ah, really?" Mikan piped up.

I nodded.

"How long will it take us to get back?" Misaki asked.

"A couple minutes," I muttered. I lifted my head up and stared up the bright afternoon sun. There wasn't that many people walking around so I took off my aviator shades.

_So, what did you buy? _Mikan nudged me.

_Huh, I don't know what you're talking about? _I pretended to be innocent. She glared at me—a very weak glare.

_Natsume! Come on tell me! _

_Nope._

_Pleeeease._

_Nope._

_Pleeeease._

_Mikan, _I growled in my head.

She pouted her lip out and I almost stopped walking. Ugh, I wanted to kiss her again! Why did she have to pout?

_Fine. _She muttered. I sighed and laced my fingers with hers—as if to tell her she would find out later tonight anyways.

When we finally reached our pick up destination, Koko was already there waiting to pick us up. He opened the door for us and we all pilled inside. Mikan and me were sitting against the side of the coach, the door parallel to us. Tsubasa, Misaki and Aoi were to the left of us; and Imai and Ruka were to the right of us.

"When we get home, I'm going to go straight to bed" Aoi yawned while stretching in her seat for added drama.

"Same," everyone else said.

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep after eating all that good food," Ruka muttered—rubbing his stomach.

Mikan let out a small giggle.

"I think Tsubasa would agree to that," she grinned innocently at the said person. Imai raised up a screen from her lap—showing a video of a guy with spiky blue hair smashing his face into a cake. Everyone burst into laughter when she set it on replay the entire trip back to the palace.

*Time skip—6:00 PM*

We ran up stairs and everyone disappeared back into their rooms, while Mikan and me hovered between both of our rooms. I leaned down gently and pressed my lips against hers. Slowly letting the electricity speed through my veins and up to my heart.

"See you soon," She breathed. I brushed back her chestnut hair and kissed her again, memorizing the taste of her lips.

"See you soon," I whispered. Finally letting her go with a final tender kiss on the forehead.

I walked back to my room and changed into a pair of black PJ bottoms and grabbed a crisp fitting white Tee. I walked to the bathroom as I slipped the shirt over my head. Quickly brushing my teeth and washing my face, I headed back to my room and set the alarm clock for midnight. I pushed the black silky bags into corner beside my bed, before I passed out into a deep sleep.

*Mikan's POV*

The alarm clock sounded and I pulled myself up out of the warm sheets.

11:50 PM

I made my bed quickly then made a beeline to the bathroom. I washed my face in an attempt to wake myself up and brushed my teeth. Just as I walked into the closet my stomach growled.

"Ugh, I'm hungry" I moaned. Guess I should have ate before I passed out on my bed. I adjusted my scarlet PJ's and went to the bathroom to make sure it would be ready to use. Examining the floor, I moved the rug to expose the jade colored tiles. Satisfied, I looked in the mirror to see what my reflection looked like. My hair was sticking up every where, how great.

I grabbed my brush and quickly combed out all the tangles.

_Mikan, I'm here._

My heart rate immediately increased and I forced myself to calm down before I opened the door. As quiet as I could, I unlocked my door and opened it to reveal a freshly woken up Natsume. I smiled at the sight and backed up to allow room for him to come in.

I walked into the bathroom and he set the black silk bags onto the ground.

"I brought some cookies," he muttered pulling out a white box. On cue my stomach growled loudly, and I blushed in response.

He chuckled and passed them towards me—taking his own as well.

"Mmm," I bit into Anna's star cookie "yummy!"

We ate all the cookies up in a matter of seconds.

"Mmm, that was good" I closed my eyes and stretched. When I opened my eyes all the things for the ritual was sitting out straight in front of me.

Natsume sat staring at the two lists that the old lady had given us. I set the cookies box on the sink counter.

_...Mi-chan..._

"So, does it look difficult?" I asked. I examined the bright red candle.

"Uh, not that difficult. Sit right in front of me," he said. I moved right in front of him and he set the silver pot between us. "Apparently this pot cooks anything that's in it"

I looked at the pot. "That's so cool," I whispered.

"Put the candle about 1 foot away from the silver pot, on the right side of you" I did as I was told. I watched him go back down to the white paper.

He grabbed out the potion, lavender, purple rose and white wine out of the bag and set it to the side.

"Do you by chance have a knife?" Natsume asked. I gnawed on my bottom lip and shook my head no.

"I'll be right back then," he jumped up and ran out of the bathroom. I stayed where I was and played with my cozy PJ bottoms. I heard the windows push open and I froze.

"It's just me," Natsume muttered walking back into the bathroom. I relaxed instantly.

He set down the cutting knife down amongst the other things.

"Ok, so first off we need to shut off all the lights in the bathroom," I sat up and reached up to the light for the bathroom. I looked back at him just as I shut the lights off.

The bathroom was engulfed in complete darkness. I stood there for a second letting my eyes semi adjust.

"Uhh, I can't—" Natsume lit his palm up. "Nevermind,"

I sat back down in front of him.

"Now we light the candle," he snapped his fingers and the red candle came to life. He immediately after stopped using his fire. I looked around at the materials—the candle dimly lighting the room.

"Grab the potion and pour it inside the pot," I reached over and grabbed the pink liquid, I took of the cap and poured in the contents inside. It filled up half the pot. I looked at him cutting up the purple rose, then he dropped it into the now steaming pot.

I grabbed the lavender from beside me and I dipped the end into the bright flame of the red candle. I let the flame make its way hungrily up the lavender before dropping it inside.

"Last thing is the white wine, right?" I asked. I meet Natsume's crimson orbs; the reflection of the candle was flickering in his crimson pools.

"Yeah," I handed him the canteen. He opened it up and I watched as he brought it over to boiling liquid. The smell of lavender was strong in the air. He dumped it in with a flick of the wrist and we watched wide eyed as the silver pot started foaming inside.

"What does it say to do now?" I asked still freaked out.

"Um," he looked down at the old paper "let it boil until the foam disappears"

"Are we suppose to do anything else now?" I muttered watching the foaming liquid.

"It says that once we drink the potion, we'll both regain full control of the memories that have been blocked" he muttered.

_"Nat!" I ran up to my friend encircling him in a huge hug._

_"Hey, get off me" the crimson eyed lad grumbled._

I wonder… who that boy is.

"Ah, it's ready" Natsume said. I peered into the pot and saw a new purple colored drink inside.

"Do you have cups?" I asked. He smirked and pulled out two glasses.

"Of course,"

I grinned as he pulled out a serving spoon and filled both cups up—emptying the pot. I accepted the cup he handed me and took a deep breath in.

"Mmm, smells good" I muttered closing my eyes.

"Your right," I heard him murmur. "On the count of three?"

"Ok,"

"One…two…three," we brought the warm liquid to our lips and started drinking. I gulped it down in a matter of seconds—along with Natsume. Setting the glasses down we stared at each other.

"Do you…" I began.

"Feel a change?" he finished. We both stared at each other blankly.

"Uh, did it really—" Both of us gasped and a flash of images played by my eyes. A hot flash of pain ran around my ankle then everything went dark.

(Natsume is having his own version of these dreams too)

_We walked in and a beautiful long raven-haired lady ran up to Mommy and gave her a big hug. They smiled at each other and started conversation on how the had missed each other. Daddy was busy talking to another man and I peered around his leg._

_I saw a girl a little younger then me, and then there was a boy my age. They both had raven locks and beautiful crimson orbs. _

_The boy looked at me._

"_Go on over," Daddy nudged me forward._

_I walked towards them and put a big smile on._

"_Hi, I'm Mikan!" I smiled at them._

"_My names Aoi Hyuuga!" she replied cheerfully._

"_Nice to meet you Aoi, can I call you Aoi?" I giggled when Aoi shook her head yes. I looked over at the boy again, his crimson orbs were so memorizing._

"_That's my Onii-Chan Natsume Hyuuga" _

"_Nice to meet you Natsume!" I said smiling, "May I call you Natsume?"_

"_Hn" he muttered._

My orbs widened. Natsume? …Aoi!

_The blonde boy looked at me and introduced himself._

"_I'm Ruka Nogi"_

_I smiled. "I'm Mikan Sakura"_

"_Nice to meet you, Sakura"_

_I nodded my head and watched as he carefully bandaged the bird's wing up._

"_Karin-chan will be better in no time, just remember to feed her"_

"_Wow!" I said in awe, "It's so cool that you can talk to animals" I said after I was told that his Alice was Animal Pheromone. _

_He smiled at me. "Yeah,"_

What, how can I possibly have known Ruka back when I was just a little girl?

_"Nat!" I ran up to my friend encircling him in a huge hug._

_"Hey, get off me" the crimson eyed lad grumbled._

_"But, but, Nat!" tears filled my eyes._

_"He-Hey, don't cry," he wiped away the tears that were streaming down my face. "I didn't mean it to make you cry"_

_"I missed you soo much!" I sniffled. He sighed and stared at me. "What you didn't miss me?" I asked gnawing on my lip._

_"Hn," I smiled up at the boy. _

_"Hehe," I gave him a toothy grin. "I'm so happy my parents brought me here again"_

_Nat scowled and ruffled his raven locks. Grabbing my wrist he pulled me along with him._

I knew him when I was younger? But how did I forget… I focused on the young Natsume in my mind. Then Ruka and Aoi too. What's going on here?

I took a deep breath and was snapped back to the present—apparently at the same time Natsume came back to. We stared at each other wide-eyed. We didn't speak for what felt like forever.

"Nat…?" I muttered still looking at him.

"Mikan?" he looked at me confused.

"How…" we said at the same time.

I looked at the flashing pot—why is it still flashing?

"…Daughter Mikan,"

"Did the pot just speak?" I asked Natsume.

"Daughter Mikan," The steam from the pot flew up forming the face of Oracle. "Son Natsume,"

"Oracle!" I explained, "I thought you weren't coming back to see me—well us—anymore?"

"Daughter Mikan, Son Natsume… I have to tell you something. Something that happened a long time ago," she said. Her face flickered and the steam flew up again. Finally, she grew a transparent body and she was floating in front of us.

"A long time ago, when you were not born and your mothers were still princesses, they made a promise that one day their kids would get married. Yuka would give birth to the girl; and Kaoru would give birth to the boy. Yuka and Kaoru had gone into town to see a very famous Alice welder who could help them with their wish—For one girl and one boy," Oracle sat down on the bathtub, and flickered her long silver hair over her shoulder. "The Alice welder told them they would both be granted with a daughter and a son for their first child. The two princesses were ecstatic, and shortly after were married to two princes from different country's."

"They grew older and finally both girls were gifted with beautiful children. However, what they did not know was that if either Yuka or Kaoru died before the two children were engaged, the two children would forget about each other," Oracle floated around Natsume and I.

"The famous Alice welder had never told them that, so when Yuka passed, Kaoru forgot all about Mikan and Natsume being engaged. Along with you two forgetting the bond and friendship you had," I stared at her flickering face.

"But we remembered now, does that mean that Ruka, Aoi and Natsume's parents will remember it?" I asked.

"I do not know, Daughter Mikan, I do not know. But, I do know that they will gradually gain back those memories lost now that you to remember," she stood over the pot and sunk back in so only her face was there. "I must leave for now, but you two have been granted something. I hope it helps with what is to come," and with that she poofed back into the steam from the pot.

"What does she mean granted something?" Natsume muttered frowning.

"I don't know," I stretched my legs out "But isn't that co—"

His warm fingers wrapped around my ankle and I blushed.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked.

"Your ankle," he pushed my PJ's up. I stared at my ankle in utter shock. "A mark…"

It was of a small crimson butterfly. Its wings stretched out to its full mass, showing off its beautiful designs.

I looked up at him. "We completed a ritual…"

_More likely to gain the Alice of Mark…_

"But that wouldn't give us a mark on our skin," I muttered confused "we would just have it like any normal Alice" Then something caught my attention.

"Natsume," I sat up and slid over to him. Lifting up his PJ's I gasped. "You have one too"

We stared back and forth at the matching crimson butterfly tattoos.

"What…?" I murmured.

"Mark of a Lover," Natsume whispered. I blushed and met his crimson orbs.

"Do you really think that's it?" I pushed back my hair. Fighting to stay awake.

I could see the sleep getting to him as well.

"Um, what did she say?" he ran both hands through his messy raven hair. "Telepathy, we can already do that. Tell each others emotions and where we are!"

He looked up at me and narrowed his eyes in deep concentration. I swallowed my laughter, barely succeeding, but still my face remained neutral.

"Humor…" he muttered—closing his eyes.

I watched him. "What?"

"Confusion now," he opened his orbs and stared at me. "I can tell what your emotions are!"

"Can you tell what I'm feeling?" He asked.

"Think about something, " I told him. I closed my orbs and focused on Natsume.

I cleared my thoughts and let my mind reach out to him. A feeling of warmth slipped around me, caressing my mind. Then it changed to nothing.

"Anger," I said. My eyes still closed. The warmth came back and I let it slip around me once again. "Now happiness"

I opened my eyes to see Natsume smiling at me. I took that as a good sign.

"So that's two things," I said. I got an idea.

"Hey, stay here. I'm going to go hid and see if you can find me," I got up and ran from the bathroom. I slipped out of the bedroom and ran to the accessories room in my closet. I sat down and waited.

A few moments later I heard the door creak open and I looked up to see Natsume. I grinned.

"Your turn," he helped me up.

"Ok, I'll count to ten." I closed my eyes as he left the room.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

I opened my orbs and stretched. Closing my orbs once again, I cleared my mind and thought about finding Natsume. I felt a tug and an image of Natsume standing on a balcony came into my mind. I walked through my closet and headed into the bedroom. Heading to the balcony, I opened the doors to find him standing there.

"Aha!" I giggled. "Found you~"

I yawned and walked back over to him—Only to be dragged back inside.

"Its cold, and I'm tired." He muttered. Smiling, I grabbed my comforter and cuddled into the blankets along with Natsume.

"So, we know were Marked then…" I yawned. I rested my head on his chest.

"Yeah," he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"What are we going to do with the candle and the pot now?" I asked closing my eyes.

"Just leave them in that silk bag 'til we need 'em again, I guess" he whispered nuzzling in my neck. His breath was warm against my skin.

"Okay…" I murmured falling asleep. "We'll put them away in the morning,"

Then I fell asleep.

* * *

**Chapter 14, done.**

**(Natsume and Mikan didn't do anything- just fell asleep. .)**

**Thank you's too;**

**bunnyjumps- Haha, that made me laugh :P but thank you!**

**VeronicaLover123- Thank you :) I'll try to keep updating whenever I have the chance**

**Kylee-Cat- Hehe, I love writing this part because its so 'mysterious'. xD Thank you for your review~**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Aw, haha. Thank you for reviewing :D**

**- Aw, thank you very much! :) I hope you understand a bit more about the whole 'marking' thing. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Luna here, sorry this wasn't updated right away :(...**

**But, I have it up now, soo without further ado~ Enjoy this chapter**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 15:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

I pulled my warm pillow towards my body; the pillow pulled me closer in response.

_Ah, what a nice pillow, hugging me back. _I thought. I breathed in a musty scent with what smelled like a hint of cinnamon. I sighed in satisfaction, that smell made my stomach hatch a nest of butterflies—It reminds me of Natsume's scent. I grinned to myself thinking about my handsome, crimson-eyed boyfriend.

"Mmm…" I mumbled.

The pillow sighed again and I leaned my head back against it. I snuggled and nuzzled my head trying to find a comfy spot.

"Mikan…" the pillow murmured.

_The pillow knows my name! _I giggled in my half conscious state. Wait… since when can pillows talk? I started to grow suspicions about this so-called "pillow". Growing an idea in my head, I poked the side of the pillow with my finger.

The pillow jolted forward—pinning me onto the bed.

I let out a small growl. _How dare this pillow—MY pillow—roll on top of me and trap me!_

I opened my eyes and stared at bright white. What is this? My pillows are red. I wiggled my arms free and poked the pillow—still in a dreamy state. Finally, the pillow moved slightly up—after about 50 pokes.

I set my head back down and looked up—only to blink in confusion. I stared into alluring crimson orbs, and my already half-conscious mind, went into an even bigger stupor.

I reached my hand up and caressed the pillows still face. A smirk drew across his lovely kissable lips. I blinked again—Since when did pillows talk, move, and have faces?

"M-I-K-A-N…" the face moved down towards mine and lazily nuzzled my neck. I mentally slapped myself awake, and I shivered involuntarily at the soft movement of the guy on top of me.

"Natsume," I breathed. A blush ran across my face, highlighting my embarrassment.

"I'll take it you're finally awake," he kissed my cheek and raised his head eye level to me. "Good morning"

"Good morning," I smiled cheekily.

I stretched my tired limbs from under him and yawned, then continued to roll out from under him.

"What are we doing today?" I drawled. He grinned at my silly sounding voice.

"I think it's just a lazy day. Then tonight we'll go down to the basement and complete that other ritual,"

Speaking of rituals… I lifted my leg free from the blankets and stared at the beautiful crimson butterfly tattoo. Natsume lifted my leg up to his lap—much to my embarrassment. He started lightly tracing the wings—sending electric sparks up my leg.

"They both suit you…" he whispered. I watched his finger linger over my leg before starting to trace again.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I stammered. My face was starting to heat up very, very quickly.

"Your marks" he replied simply.

"Oh…" I muttered. I snuck a glance at him. His crimson eyes were locked on the crimson butterfly—a mark that symbolized our connection—our 'Mark of a Lover'. The butterflies in my stomach started performing somersaults.

"How so?" I finally asked.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Hmm," he cocked his head to the side and ran a little flame up and down the exposed skin of my leg. I shivered again. "Well, the sakura tree on your arm it's fitting for you. You are a Sakura Princess after all…" he drifted off.

"…What about the butterfly?" I asked slowly.

He didn't speak for awhile. I was about to just start another topic when he spoke.

"Since it's a love mark and it's a crimson butterfly I think it… matches _us _perfectly," he whispered the last part but I still heard it. I looked at the small tint of pink on his cheeks that only lasted as quickly as it had came. I on the other hand, I was blushing fiercely. He noticed this when his face raised up to mine.

"Somebody's blushing," he teased.

I hit him and covered my face. I took two big calming breaths and I felt my blush fading away.

I raised my head almost reluctantly. I met his amused face and I scowled.

"Ah, look at that! The blush is gone!" he said with fake shock.

"Shush," I growled. He laughed and I took this chance to look at his appearance.

His hair was literally sticking up in every direction—but somehow made it still look absolutely amazing. His once crisp white tee was now ruffled, clinging to his muscular chest. I lingered my gaze there but went back to his face. His crimson orbs still hinted his amusement but his lips displayed his famous smirk.

"Staring at me now?" He moved his face dangerously close to mine.

"N-No," I stammered. "I'm going to have a shower. You can come back in a hour"

I ran into the bathroom before he could say anything. But I could feel his smile on me as I made the run for it.

*Time Skip*

I put on a pair of tan shorts that rest mid thigh, and a loose cream-colored tank—two finger straps. I had my hair so it ran down my back in loose cascading curls; a light pink blush, tan brown eyeliner and a sweep of mascara completed my look.

I left my closet and grinned as my gaze rested on Natsume lounging on my bed. He was freshly showered and had changed into a fitting black shirt that flattered his arms and tan cargo shorts. He had fixed his hair so it was back to his usual "messy".

"Hey," I said. Plopping down on the bed beside him. He looked up when I sat down.

"Hey to yourself," he grinned.

"Soo," I sang. "I cleaned up the stuff in the bathroom and put it away in my closet. Do you want to keep it in your room or mine?"

"Yours, I already have the other ritual stuff for tonight. I don't want the others to find it and get suspicions. I want Aoi, Ruka and everyone else to realize we all knew each other on their own," he twirled a finger around my curl "like regain their memory"

"Ah, that's right. I forgot about the other ritual" I rubbed the back of my head.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Baka…" he muttered.

I hit his shoulder.

"Shut u—" my tummy growled and I blushed.

"Hmm," he gave me a teasing once over.

"Somebody's hun-gry," he separated the last word in a dramatic voice. He stood up and walked to the door. "But I knew a Baka like you would be, soo"

He opened the door and a maid stood there with a cart of breakfast—set for two. My mouth watered as I stared at the food.

He thanked Tara and pulled the cart into the room. He shut the door with his foot and wheeled over to me—his grin still in place. He stopped by the side of the bed where he had been sitting and sat back down.

"Wow," I muttered.

His grin turned into a full-fledged smile.

"Mhmm,"

He pulled the two plates down on the bed and I grabbed one. It looked soo good. It was just like when we had breakfast back in the cave; strips of bacon, eggs, and a small hand full of fresh, juicy berries.

"It looks yummy," I popped a small strawberry in my mouth and I sighed as the delicious taste enveloped my mouth. He had already stuffed down some of his eggs and he looked up at me with an innocent smile.

I giggled and started eating my own. We were enjoying our food when somebody knocked on the door.

I glanced over at Natsume and he shrugged telling me to just go answer it. I smiled at him and went to the door.

"Coming!" I opened the door and Hotaru and Ruka walked in carrying what looked like to be there own breakfast. When they came in view of the bed they seemed momentarily shocked to see Natsume on my bed eating. He blinked back at them before giving them a little smirk.

"Hyuuga,"

"Natsume!"

I laughed when both of them nonchalantly sat on the bed and I quickly went back to my spot beside Natsume. We all finished our breakfast.

"So any plans for today," Ruka asked. Eying the both of us.

_Do we have plans today? _I asked Natsume.

_Possibly…_

"Maybe…" Natsume looked at me, then back at Ruka. "Do you have to do anything today?"

Ruka and Hotaru shared a look. "Well, actually. The two of us were going to go back to the park before tonight,"

"You could come with us if you wanted" Hotaru muttered.

I looked at Natsume.

_Do you want to go?_

_Sure! _I beamed a smile at him.

_Of course we don't need to stick by the love struck couple the entire time, but go on our own…_

I blushed and Natsume took that as a yes.

"I'm fine with it," he said.

"Ok! What about you Mikan?" Ruka smiled.

"Sure!" I tried my best to cool my face down.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Then it's settled! We'll leave once we get our things"

*Time Skip—Natsume's POV*

We thanked Koko and left the carriage. I put my shades on and gazed around at Central Town.

"How did we get to the park before?" Mikan asked.

"Walk through central town 'til we get to the sakura trees growing in the center. Then walk all the way to the back, and it'll take us to a secret path leading to our "secret spot"," Ruka smiled. I started heading through the empty streets everyone following behind.

"Where is everyone? It's only 2," I stared at the abandoned streets. "Shouldn't they still be out shopping, it is Saturday"

They hadn't seemed to notice that the streets were empty—they were to busy chatting amongst themselves. But when I spoke up they seemed to notice it finally.

"Huh," Mikan looked generally confused "You're right, no ones here"

"Baka…" I muttered.

"Oh, I think there was some kind of event happening at Alice Fields," Ruka piped up. "Something for the anniversary of the walls being built to keep the Koizumi out"

"Alice Fields?" Polka asked.

"It's the giant field out where you first enter the Kingdom's border. In the late 1800's the ruling Royal Family had built a giant wall surrounding the Kingdom so the Koizumi couldn't get in," Imai bluntly replied.

"Oh really?" Mikan's orbs widened in awe. "My Kingdom should do something like that…"

We watched her to see any signs of her breaking down, but her smile was still stretched out on her lovely face. I raised an eyebrow at Imai—she gave me a look that said 'she seems to be fine'.

"And I could get you guys to help out with the designs," She turned on her heel at the instant and gave the three of us a big beautiful smile.

I couldn't help but smile back at her. "Yeah, maybe"

I wrapped my arms around her as we continued through the streets. About 10 minutes later we reached the big green area that marked the center of Central Town. Passing between two towering Sakura trees, Mikan looked up to admire their beauty. At that instant, the sun's rays cut through petals of soft pink, sending a beam of light to surround her. Highlighting her as if she were an angel.

I caught my breath and watched her smile back at me. Ah, that little girl is driving me crazy. I ran a hand through my raven locks to "calm" myself down.

I walked up to her and gave her a loving embrace—not caring if Imai was behind me taking hundreds of pictures—I'd just burn them all later. I rested my hands on the trunk of the tree and nuzzled her neck.

"Na-Natsume?" I could feel her blushing. I pulled back just a little to see her face flushed. "Wha-what is it?"

I stared down at her parted lips.

_Control yourself, Natsume! _I yelled to myself. I looked back into her sparkling hazel orbs watching me intently.

_Ba-thump, Ba-thump, Ba-thump._

_Ah, screw it. _I held her face and crashed my lips down onto hers.

I heard Ruka mutter something about giving us privacy and start to drag a rebellious Imai away. Making use of the situation that we had privacy from any on lookers—I began to move my lips against hers. Sparks were literally flying from my fingertips as the electricity from her touch made its way to my heart. I used my finger to caress her cheek as I opened my mouth asking for entrance. She complied shortly after and I searched her mouth with my tongue.

Out of breath, I stopped kissing her and gazed at her face—a blush soon making its way onto her cheeks.

Smirking, I ran a teasing finger under her chin. She parted her lips again and watched me with her big hazel eyes. I landed two quick tender pecks on her lips before giving both of us room to breathe.

"What now?" she breathed. Her head landed on my chest and I tried to calm my racing heart.

"We can make our way to the park…" I dropped my head—my cheek on the top of her head. I breathed in the smell of strawberries.

"Ok," she mumbled still unmoving. We stayed like that, until our breathing—and heart rate—was back to normal. Then took us an extra 15 minutes just to stop holding each other.

"We should probably get going," she said. I took a step back and laced my fingers with hers.

We started heading to the opposite end of the green area where the path was that would lead us to the secret spot.

"So, what's this spot like?" She asked me. Her voice echoing through the trees, then coming back like a bunch of singing angels.

"Hmm, I guess you'll have to wait to see" I teased.

She pouted, "Fine"

I made an excuse of pulling back a branch to calm myself again. Once I pulled the branch back, it exposed the dirt trail that we were looking for.

"Ohh, mysterious" Polka grinned.

I smirked and pulled her onto the trail. It was shaded by a bunch of Sakura, cherry and pine trees. The sun only coming through the spaces from the leaves. We headed on our way and finally a clearing came into view.

"Pretty!" Mikan twirled around. The clearing was in the shape of a circle about 12x6 feet—tall sakura and cherry trees sat around the perimeter of the clearing, guarding it from sight. Except for a spot directly in front of us where there was a space for about two people to squeeze through, much like an arch—which lead to the secret spot Ruka and Hotaru were at. The sound of rushing water made Polka drag me towards the arch.

Once we were in the second clearing that was about double the size of the first—she headed towards the small waterfall. I sat down beside her on a rock that hovered over the cool water that had come from the waterfall.

"This is like a smaller version of the lake in the forest!" she put her bare feet into the calm blue water. I stretched out on my back looking up at her face.

"Mm, this place Ruka and I found when we were running away from crazed fan girls. We had slipped onto the trail by accident and followed it here," I dipped my hand into the water behind me.

Mikan sweatdropped, "I've never had any problems with 'fans' like that before,"

"Your lucky,"

"Yeah, I feel bad for Ruka and you," she plopped down on her stomach and stared into the water.

"Speaking of Ruka, where are they?" she asked looking at me.

I gazed lazily around the giant clearing—movement in one of the large sakura trees caught my attention. I saw the bright blonde hair of Ruka.

"In that big sakura tree over there," I replied nonchalantly. She followed where I was looking and shrugged; then went back to playing with the water.

I absentmindedly looked at her crimson butterfly mark—the one that was also on my ankle. If only we had this mark back in the forest, that way we could've found her before… the Koizumi hurt her so bad. I grimaced at the memory of her broken and bloody form.

I clenched my fists. I won't let anyone touch her like that again. If they do, I'll burn them to a crisp.

_But that won't matter, you can track her before they even get back to their hide out. _My conscious reminded me.

…_But what if I don't get there fast enough? _Unease ran through my system. Don't think like that! I glanced at her watching a fish swim in the water, she would giggle once in awhile. She wouldn't even have an Alice to defend herself with. Telepathy can't really do anything to hurt an opponent. Healing, well she can constantly heal herself—but she'd eventually get tired from using her Alice too much. Nullification can only help with stopping them from using Alice; it can't stop them from beating her.

_You could give her an Alice that would help with her defend herself._

That's right! I can make an Alice stone! How could I have been so stupid not to think about that?

_But, she wouldn't be able to get it in her body. _I growled at that. But there's still that Alice legend about trading Alice stones with a loved one. I could just give it to her regardless, and maybe it would help her somehow.

With determination flooding through me, I clenched my fist—a heavy object now rested in my palm. I snuck a glance at it. It was about 1/4th the size of my hand and was a brilliant shade of scarlet. I pocketed the stone; I'd give it to her tonight.

"Natsume?" her angelic voice snapped me from my thoughts. Her forehead was crinkled as she gazed upon me. "You seemed to be in deep thought,"

"Huh, oh sorry," I sat up, "I was just thinking about something. What is it?"

She stared at me a moment—worry still on her features. I pressed my finger against her forehead; smoothing the skin. She leaned into my hand.

"Hotaru and Ruka said we should start heading back to the Palace,"

I looked around us. It was considerably much darker then when we first got here. How long was I spaced out for?

"Okay, let's start heading back," I lifted her up.

"Yup!"

*Mikan's POV*

We headed towards the first clearing where Ruka and Hotaru stood waiting for us. They sighed when we made our way through the arch.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, let's go" Hotaru pushed the grass back exposing the trail again. Ruka shrugged at us.

I shared a look with Natsume as we stepped back onto the dirt trail.

"So, what did you two do the entire time?" I asked the blonde and my monotone best friend.

"Stuff," Hotaru muttered.

"We sat and watched the view. Then Hotaru started working on one of her inventions," Ruka replied.

"Surprise, surprise" Natsume muttered. I giggled and skipped to catch up to the three of them again.

*Time Skip*

"Thank you Koko!" I said to the sandy blonde guard. He smiled to me in acknowledgment.

I sat down inside the coach and everyone else pilled inside. I opened the little white curtain on the window so I could watch the scenery of the kingdom at sunset.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and knowing it was from Natsume, I sat up a little so he could put his arm around me. He pulled me against his chest and I continued to watch the trees, and look out into the distance.

A huge mountain in the distance hid the Sakura Kingdom from view—even though it was miles away, you wouldn't be able to see it even if the mountain wasn't there…

A sigh slipped from my lips while I thought about home. I wonder who it is that marked me from back home.

…_Mi-chan…_

I'd find out soon. I watched the sun slip behind the mountain—twilight now in the sky.

"Everyone is ready for tonight. We just need to go have something to eat, then we can grab the things and head to the basement," Ruka said.

"I'll grab the bag once we finish eating" Natsume said.

"Then I'll lead everyone into the old library" Ruka concluded.

I stretched my stiff arms.

"What do we need to do again?" I asked.

"Pretty easy stuff," Hotaru murmured—her face glued to a book. "Put you in a circle of white candles, and using the stuff from the shop, put the candle in front of you. Pour water, burn lavender… blah blah"

I nodded, not much different from Natsume's and my ritual. I still couldn't believe that we all knew each other when we were just kids…

"We're here your highness's," Koko stopped the carriage and opened the doors. I stepped out into the cool night. I glanced up at the luminous white marble Palace. It was absolutely breath taking.

We walked into the main foyer and the huge chandelier lit our way as we made our way towards the giant kitchen. Tara was leaning against the counter sipping tea when we stepped inside.

"Good evening, Natsume-ouji, Ruka-ouji," she bowed to them. "Mikan-hime, Hotaru-hime. How was your evening?"

"Good," we all said in unison.

She pulled out plates from inside the oven and handed them to us. My mouth watered and I thanked Tara before digging in.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Mmm, this is really yummy Tara!" I took a sip from my milk.

"Thank you, Mikan-hime" she smiled.

We finished our supper in 10 minutes while talking to Tara about our day.

"Ah, that hit the spot" I rubbed my tummy in satisfaction. I sat up from my chair and stretched.

"We should get going, thanks for the meal Tara" Ruka smiled at the maid.

She waved us off and we headed towards the hall.

"I'll be right back," Natsume turned to go up the stairs. "I'll grab everyone from their rooms when I come back"

"Okay," we headed down the hall and to the set of stairs leading to the dark corridor of the basement. Ruka heaved the door open and grabbed one of the lit torches.

"This place gives me the creeps," I shivered.

"Same here," Ruka muttered. We made our way silently down the hall. Finally we reached the old wooden door leading to the library.

I coughed when the rush of old rotting smells came at my face. We stepped inside and Hotaru lit a match to start lighting all the candles up.

I grabbed an arm full of the white candles that were on the table and Ruka pushed the table to the wall—leaving room in the center for us to perform the ritual.

I started setting the candles in a circle big enough for me to sit in with all the other supplies. Once all the candles were lit—including the ones for the circle—everyone else made there way into the room.

"We're here," Tsubasa announced.

Natsume set the silk bag down on the floor and handed me the items from where I sat in the circle.

I put the purple candle in front of me. Then put the lavender and canteen beside me.

…_Mi-chan…_

"We ready for this?" Misaki asked. Everyone nodded and sat along the walls, except for Hotaru and Natsume who sat down straight in front of me.

"Once the ritual is complete the candles will go out and we can come into the circle," Hotaru muttered.

I nodded in understanding.

"We'll tell you what to do ok?" Natsume murmured only loud enough for Hotaru and I to hear. He snapped his fingers and lit the purple candle. The surrounding candles all went out except for the huge white ones holding the circle together.

"The ritual is the same basically as the one we read here, but there's only one candle"

The gleam of a small silver knife beside me caught my attention. I looked back up at Natsume, he gave me a reassuring smile.

"Pour the canteen over the candle and let it pool around the base of it," I grabbed the canteen.

"Won't the water extinguish the flame?" I asked, twisting the cap off.

"No, it's a special candle"

I pored the water onto the candle slowly, it slide down the base of the candle using the wax to guide it. I surrounded the candle in a pool of water.

"Ok, now grab the knife…" Natsume began slowly. I picked up the shining metal in my hand.

"Now slice your palm and let it drip into the flame and water—it needs to be the hand with the sakura mark," I looked up at him sharply.

"You have the healing Alice Baka," I took a deep breath and sliced the knife over my flesh. A steady line of scarlet pooled in my hand. I closed my hand into a fist and let the blood drip over the candle and the water. Once that was accomplished I activated my healing Alice.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Say, 'Hime, jinn cue, poll Ute'"

"Hime, jinn cue, poll Ute," I murmured. The candles flame snapped and rose to the ceiling. I watched in awe as the water vibrated.

"Now burn the lavender,"

The scent of lavender filled the air around me as it burst into flames. It crumbled to ashes around the candle.

…_Mi-chan…_

"Take two big breathes and put both hands into the water. But first slice both of your palms again," I raised the knife and sliced both palms, ignoring the pain. I placed my hands into the water and felt a rush of wind zoom through the circle—it pressed the flame back down to its normal size and then everything went dark.

Natsume lit the candles on the wall and we sat in silence.

"Do you hear anyone?" Misaki asked.

"Not ye—" Then a voice rang through my mind.

…_Mi-chan… can you hear me?_

_

* * *

_

**Ohh, Cliff hanger~**

**Well, I didn't update faster this time... but tomorrow chapter 16 will be up! So I'm getting back on track. Hopefully...**

**Thanks you's too;**

**iluvicecream- Thank you :)**

**Sakura Breeze- It's updated~ Haha (yayy)**

**bunnyjumps- Haha, that was my favorite scene in that chapter. I love beating up Tsubasa :) haha xD**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- I didn't update faster this time... but I will upload 16 tomorrow so I'll be back on track again!**

**VeronicaLover123- Hope you liked this chapter ^.^**

**babee-angel- Thank you for your review! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Heyy guys ^.^**

**Heres chapter 16!**

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 16:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

We sat in silence after the room lit up again.

"Do you hear anyone?" Misaki asked. I sat there and listened.

"Not ye—" Then a voice rang through my mind.

…_Mi-chan… can you hear me?_

I stopped mid sentence. Everyone slide closer to me.

"Mikan?" Hotaru walked towards me, eyeing me cautiously.

My eyes widened as I sat frozen. That voice… tears brimmed around my eyes.

"Who is it?" she asked—now sitting in front of me, but I looked past her. My eyes were blind from the rising tears in my eyes.

_Mi-chan…?_

_Jii-chan…_. _Jii-chan! JII-CHAN!_

I started sobbing uncontrollably

"Mikan!" everyone shouted at me.

"Mikan! Whose voice is it?" Hotaru asked holding my face.

_Oh, Mi-chan…_

My eyes still weren't in focus. My cheeks were wet with my tears.

_I miss you soo, soo much. _His voice was shaking.

_Jii-chan! Ho-how are you? Ar-are you hurt?_

_Mi-chan… Do not fret over me. How are you? Where are you now?_

Hotaru lifted my face to hers forcing me to look into her amethyst orbs.

"Oh, Hot-Hotaru, it's Jii-chan! Jii-chan! Hotaru, He-He's ok!" I sobbed.

_Mi-chan?_

_Jii-chan, I-I'm with Hotaru at Hyuuga Kingdom. She found me with Natsume and Ruka. I'm okay._

Hotaru sucked in a breath. Everyone in the room went wide-eyed.

She grabbed me into a hug as the tears kept streaming down my face.

_Mi-chan… I'm glad your safe. Lucy and I are okay, do not worry. The Koizumi have thrown us into the dungeons._

"What's he saying?" she asked me in a calm voice.

"Th-that Lucy and him are ok," I sniffled wiping my face with the tissue she had handed me. "They're in the dungeons"

She narrowed her eyes, "Where are the Koizumi?"

I blinked.

_Jii-chan, where are the Koizumi?_

_The Koizumi… they are up in the castle. I heard the guards talking that Luna has come to rule the throne._

I shivered.

"He says that the Koizumi are in the castle, and that Luna has taken up the throne" I grimaced. Luna was the Queen of the Koizumi's and she was the one that had ordered for them to go around killing people.

_Luna?_

_Yes child. I do not know what she is planning on doing, but we must get rid of these Koizumi!_

"Luna is in the Sakura Kingdom?" Natsume said shocked.

I nodded grimly. "They seem to be planning something, but Jii-chan doesn't know what"

I stood up from the circle and grabbed the candles—I set them down on the table shakily.

_Jii-chan… did they hurt you?_

_No, dear. We're absolutely fine… we're hungry but they're not torturing us_

"Mikan…" I turned around to see Natsume. His face was twisted with concern.

_They're not feeding you?_

_Well, yes. But it's just bread and water everyday._

I'm fine, Natsume" I smiled at him. He grabbed me into a tight hug and my throat started to burn again.

He pressed his lips to my forehead and I closed my eyes. When I felt him pulling away I opened my eyes to give him the best smile I could offer.

_That's awful! Jii-chan can I ask you something?_

_What is it?_

_How did you mark me if you're in the dungeon?_

Natsume gave me his own smile and we continued to clean the dusty library up. I pushed the table back into place. Leaning against the table, I watched as everyone placed the candles back into their right positions except for the purple one.

Walking over I lifted the empty canteen and candle and placed them into the silk bag.

_I have the Alice of Mark._

I stopped what I was doing when I heard that. Jii-chan has the Alice of mark?

_You have the Alice of Mark, Since when?_

I tied the bag so no one grew suspicious of what I was doing.

_Yes, I inherited it from my mother. She had done the ritual with my dad for the Mark of a Lover. I kept it a secret from everyone so no one knew and I could use it in situations like this. I also formed a mark with Lucy so she and I are connected._

_Don't worry, Alice of Mark isn't bad. You probably have it now as well. After you've done one ritual._

_Actually, Jii-chan… I have two marks. _I blushed when I thought of how I was going to tell him about Natsume and I.

"Mikan? You're blushing," Aoi stood in front of me.

I mentally shook myself. "Oh, Haha. Jii-chan and I are talking about… something"

"Let me guess," she leaned closer to me and whispered, "About you and Natsume?"

My blush grew deeper. "Ho-how do you know?"

"Lucky guess," she walked away and left the room with Tsubasa and Misaki.

I stared at the closed door but waited for Jii-chan to reply.

_Two… how do you have two?_

_Well, err, Natsume and I are together… and all of us were doing research, and we went to see this person and it turns out both of us had our memory blocked by something. So the lady helped us and gave us instructions to do another ritual… then after that, we realized we both got Mark of a Lover after performing it._

_Ah, Lucy always said you two would end up together! _

I let slip a small giggle. Ah, it was so good to hear Jii-chan's voice again. I grabbed the silk bag off the table and followed the rest of my friends out to the corridor.

_Really?_

I could feel him nodding and smiling. I wiped a tear off my cheek quickly.

_Yes, Mi-chan. Ah, the guards are coming, and it's fairly late. Go to bed little girl, I'll talk to you again in the morning._

_Okay, Night Jii-chan, I love you. Tell Lucy I say goodnight too._

_I love you too, as does Lucy, good night sweetheart._

Sighing, I stretched my limbs and opened the door leading up to the main foyer. I rejoined my friends and we walked up stairs together.

"Mikan!" I looked at the cheerful Aoi.

"What is it?" I smiled.

"We're all going to have a sleep over in the huge room upstairs!" she laughed.

"Really? I haven't been up to the third floor yet…"

"Yup! So go get your PJ's on and grab a pillow," she pushed me towards my room.

Smiling, I pulled open the door and ran to change into clean PJ's. I did a quick nighttime routine and grabbed my pillow off the bed—Skipping back out to the hall to join everyone one else.

When I left my room, Hotaru and Ruka were coming from theirs. We reached the huddle of people in their PJ's and we all made our way up the elegant stairs to a huge foyer. They're were four doors; two on the right wall, one straight in front of us, and one on the left wall centered between the two doors opposite it. Aoi led us to the door on the left side and pushed open the solid cherry wood to expose an absolutely **amazing** room. It was just like Natsume's hidden room in the ballroom, except it was MUCH bigger.

The floors were of a soft white carpet—the kind that when you step on it your feet sink in. The walls were a clean white with splashes of neon green, yellow, red and purple splattered across them. Looking around the room, the huge white sink-when-you-sit couches were placed in a U shape around the huge TV-like screen. Between the two couches was a space about 5 meters long—where 7 sleeping bags lay. Three closest to the TV and four behind them like a weird pyramid.

"Wooow," I sang "This is quite the room,"

I walked over to the huge bay window against one of the walls and stared at the breath taking view.

"Yup! I decorated it myself!" Aoi giggled. We all claimed our sleeping bags—from the TV it went, Ruka, Hotaru, Mikan, and Natsume. Then moving down to the next set of sleeping bags lay Aoi, Tsubasa and Misaki.

"Yay! I'm beside You, Hotaru," I lifted my arms to give her a big hug.

**Baka, Baka, Baka.**

"Owww," I cried.

_Where did she put her gun? _She was just wearing an oversized purple shirt and shorts after all…

"Where did you get your gun from?" Aoi asked voicing my thoughts.

"Invisible cloaking device, invention #00991," Hotaru smirked.

"Cooool," Tsubasa raised his eyebrows "I want one of those"

Hotaru's eyes flashed 'money'. "I'll give one to you for 1000 rabbits,"

"What! That's too much. 500 rabbits," Tsubasa whined.

"No,"

"Ok, then 600 rabbits,"

"700 rabbits,"

"650 rabbits,"

"900 rabbits, take it or leave it,"

Tsubasa's eyes widened. "What that's more—"

"900, going once…twice," she bluntly cut in.

"OK! 900 rabbits it is!" Tsubasa rushed.

"Nice doing business with you," her eyes glinted evilly. We all watched the ice queen taping the money into a machine that popped out of no where. She handed Tsubasa a black piece of cloth about 50x50 cm.

"How does it work exactly?" we all asked.

"Put it over an object and say on. Then when you want to see the cloth again just say 'off' and there you go," The ice queen lounged on her sleeping bag and lazily raised her head to look at us all standing behind her.

Aoi excitedly grabbed a small cup from the side and handed it to Tsubasa. He covered it with the black cloth and we all leaned over it watching intently.

"Idiots," Hotaru muttered. She continued to start eating from a jar of crab brains. When did she get those? …Ah nevermind.

"On!" Tsubasa announced. The cloth poofed invisible and we all stared at the palm of Tsubasa's hand.

"Whoa!" we all jumped back. I poked a finger in the spot where the cup was supposed to be, but my finger touched air and went down to his flesh.

"The invisible cloak also makes the object basically non-existent until you tell it to stop," Hotaru said.

We looked back and forth between Hotaru and the invisible, non-existent cup in Tsubasa's hand.

"That's…so…COOL!" Tsubasa shouted.

"Do they come in bigger sizes?" Misaki asked, "Like to cover a whole person, or carriage or something?"

"For people they can put a bracelet on that will turn them invisible from other people; except those who also have a bracelet on. Hyuuga and Ruka have one,"

I turned and looked at Natsume. He was staring down at the bracelet on his arm.

"Oh… I forgot I had this," he shrugged.

I grinned at him.

"Actually… now that I think about it, I made one for everyone else too," Hotaru grabbed her invisible backpack—that was now visible—and took out four bracelets.

She tossed each one at Tsubasa, Misaki, Aoi and I. Mine was a thin silver bracelet with a light orange stone embedded in a little spot designed to hold it. Little beads of pink shimmered in the light. I immediately put it on my wrist.

Tsubasa's was the same design as mine, but with a dark blue stone. Misaki's stone was a bright pink and Aoi's was of an intense scarlet.

"How does it work?" Aoi asked.

"Press the colored stone and a small needle will stick in your wrist; right into your vein," Hotaru bluntly replied. I grimaced at the bracelet. "Grow up you big baby, you have the healing Alice,"

I glared at her.

"Press it," she said. The four of us took a deep breath and pressed the stone. The needle pinched my skin and I looked up.

"Did it work?" Misaki asked. I looked over at her lifting up her arms and poking them.

"Yeah, we can't see you," Ruka said; he was staring at the spot where just moments ago—we were standing visible. I looked at the bay window—Ruka, Hotaru and Natsume were clearing reflected but we weren't.

"This is cool…" I whispered.

I looked at Natsume and was shocked to see that he was staring right into my eyes, I could feel his confusion flooding his mind. Could he see me? He wasn't using his bracelet…

An image of a crimson butterfly came into mind. He seemed to be thinking the same thing.

_Who knew that the Mark could let us see each other when one of us is invisible? _He mused.

I smiled. _Yeah, I wonder what else it can let us do… _I drifted off my sentence. The endless possibilities wandering through both of our minds.

_While find out one day_

I pressed the button again, and the pressure on my wrist disappeared. I took it that we were visible again because Hotaru glanced at me.

"That's so cool! Hotaru you could make all these secret battle equipment that would give us all these advantages!" Misaki grinned.

"I wonder if the bracelet works for my clones too…" She activated her clone Alice, and both of them pressed the pink stone. They vanished into thin air and we clapped our hands in amazement.

She snapped back into view and we all giggled at Misaki's overjoyed expression.

"Actually, that's one of my newest plans… making 'battle' equipment, tracking, enhancement stickers," Hotaru sat back down on her bed.

"That's smart, it would really help us take down the Koizumi!" Tsubasa laughed.

"Yeah," Aoi yawned, "I'm tired"

As soon as she said that we all started a chain of yawning, we smiled tiredly at one another. Slipping into the warm covers, Aoi turned off the lights and we drifted off to sleep.

*Time Skip*

I peeled my eyes open and stared at the sleeping face of Natsume; his face was twisted in a grimace. Concerned, I opened my mind to let his emotions run through my head. The now very familiar warmth and the mental wind passed around my thoughts and I felt what he was feeling: Fear, anger, and sadness.

_Natsume…? _I directed my thoughts to him. His fear grew higher and I felt myself grow very anxious.

_Natsume! _An image of a dark room with five different tunnels came into view. I could feel how scared and upset he was—it was driving me mad.

_Natsume, WAKE UP! _I touched his shoulder and pushed against it. After 10 seconds of him not waking up, I sat up and started to shake him.

_Dang it! Natsume, Wake up! You're scaring me!_

"Mikan…?" I turned to Hotaru with tears in my eyes. Her amethyst orbs widened.

"What's wrong?" she asked me in a hushed voice, not loud enough for anyone to hear and wake up.

"Na-Natsume, he, he's…" I bit my lip as my stomach flipped. I felt a searing pain in the back of my head—I knew it wasn't my pain… it was Natsume's. He started shaking and hot tears fell down my cheeks; I whimpered as another hot flash of pain seared my mind. Hotaru moved over beside me.

"What's going on, Mikan?" a rare hint of concern was in her voice.

"Mark of a Lover, his pain…" I drifted off. She quickly understood what was happening between our minds and grabbed her bag. I slapped his cheek—attempting to wake him.

NATSUME!

Hotaru grabbed an Alice Medical Scanner and put it on his head. She dropped her scanner in shock

"Mikan! Put your nullification around him, FAST," she rushed still in a whisper "he's being attacked by a DreamStalker,"

"DreamStalker? What's that?" I asked. I focused away from the pain and I put my barrier around him and the pain slipping away from both of us.

_Mikan…_ he mumbled. I wiped my tears and grinned at his awakening form.

"DreamStalker is a term for people with the Alice to enter other peoples dreams and cause them great pain. Half the time it can result in death…" she whispered, "they can keep attacking them until they wake up. But if they don't stop the user from getting access to their mind, then they probably wouldn't wake up,"

Natsume could have died! I automatically strengthened my nullification around him.

_Natsume, open your eyes._

His eyes squeezed and he slowly opened them.

*Natsume's POV*

_I looked around at the dark hallway in front of me. Her voice screamed in my mind and her pain caused me to collapse against the dirt wall._

**Natsume~ **

"_Damn bastard!" I gritted my teeth and ran on through the tunnel. I was going to murder them once I found her!_

_Her screams continued to echo in my head. I finally reached the end of the tunnels and entered another section where the hall split into 5 different ways. Which way! I growled in my head._

**Oh, little kitty can't find his way.**

"_Get out of my head!" I yelled at the darkness._

**Hahahahahaha—**

_I forced a mental block in my mind and allowed my mind find which way it was to her. An invisible tread of silver pointed me to the first tunnel and I sprinted down the dirt corridor. I passed old cells and my fear grew when I heard her screams echo through the dirt walls._

_Natsume… her voice sounded so fragile. I told her I was coming soon and told her how she would be safe once I got there. I started to sprint again and followed the thread to a huge locked wooden door._

_I activated the bracelet and the nullification. Once I was invisible, I burnt the door down and ran into the room._

_A searing pain ran through me and I dropped to my knees. I clutched my stomach and begged myself not to be sick. I lifted my head searching for her. But the witch was blocking me from seeing anything._

**Hello, Kitty, I think you forgot about our little deal—**

_I felt the tread vanish into nothing. I couldn't feel her anymore._

"_MIKAN!" My scream echoed through the Palace—bringing the witch down to her knees. I stood up, almost as if I was possessed by my anger. I walked towards the monster—my crimson eyes turning into a sheer bright blood color._

**Poor child… where is she. Hahahaha—**

"_Oh, I remember our deal," I raised my hand and let searing hot flames run from my fingers towards the crippled form._

_***End of Dream***_

An intense pain ran through my head—vibrating my skull. I clenched my teeth as wave after wave came and went.

_What is this? _I tried forcing myself to wake up but it was like I wasn't in control of my conscience anymore. I tried again and again to open my eyes… only to fail.

A crazed laughter shook my mind and I could feel myself breaking. I gritted my teeth once again.

_Natsume…? _Mikan's voice was the only calm thing in my head. Instantly, I grew afraid of what was happening to me. The images of my dream were racing 100 miles/hour across my closed eyes.

_Natsume! _

I tried to answer her but my mind was breaking from all this pain. I tried again to get the presence out so I could gain control again of my conscience.

_Natsume, WAKE UP! _Her touch felt cool against me. Some of the pain disappeared—but it came back just as quickly, more violently this time.

_Dang it! Natsume, Wake up! You're scaring me! _

"_You're scaring me!_" I ran those words over and over again. What was she seeing? I grimaced as I felt a pain go through my stomach. I was going to choke myself with my vomit I thought angrily. I tried opening my eyes again.

DAMN IT! I screamed out in frustration—in my head of course.

NATSUME!

Her voice shook through me, forcing the evil presence in my mind to fall back a bit. I took this chance to "push" the thing out of my conscience with all I could. The warmth of Mikan's touch came back and cleared my mind and conscience straight away. The presence left with a final angry screech.

_Natsume, open your eyes._

I gained control of my body again and forced my sore eyes open. They landed on Mikan's beautiful face; She had tears in her eyes and she was sniffling.

She threw herself on top of me and hugged me. I rubbed her back—pulling her closer to me. I didn't like the feeling of not being able to tell where she was. I was not going to let her go, never. They'd have to pry her from my arms.

* * *

**Well, then... Chapter 16 is done. Yayy for this update going as planned ;)**

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**Thank you's too;**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Hehe, hope you enjoyed it ^.^**

**VeronicaLover123- Thank you for your review! :D Hope you liked this chapter ^.^**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello guys ^.^**

**Chapter 18 will be up tomorrow!**

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 17:**

* * *

*Natsume's POV*

That dream was still replaying over and over again in my head—I couldn't think straight! The twist in my stomach tightened each time I heard Mikan's scream echoing around my thoughts. What the hell made me think of something like that? No less dream it!

I punched the wall of the bathroom. Blood stained my knuckles and I grunted. The scarlet stone was gleaming on top of the sink; I had added a thick chain to it so it could be wore like it was a necklace. I put the Alice necklace back in my pocket.

_Natsume? What did you just do? _Her soft voice questioned me. I could feel the thread shortening as she moved towards my room.

_Nothing _I lied. She didn't need to see me frustrated like this.

_I can feel your pain on my hand… and that you're trying to hide it._

Damn.

It only took us two days to master the location and emotion thing with our bond. But we we're just calling them Tracking and Empathy. Just last night we discovered that we could feel each other's pain physically—because of me being attacked by a DreamStalker. The only downside is that if one of us gets hurt the other feels it… in the same spot and the same amount of pain—and it hurts a lot. It wouldn't surprise me if we could start visiting each other in our dreams the way that we keep finding out the different things that we can do. Right now there's Empathy, Telepathy, Tracking, and that pain sensing. We haven't come up with a cool sounding name for it yet…

_I'm coming through the balcony _Mikan stated with finality. Sighing, I took one last glance at my blood and probably broken knuckles. I walked out of the bathroom to find her leaning against the open doors, staring outside. I took a moment to take in her appearance— she was wearing a baggy black T-shirt, and dark blue jean shorts resting at her mid thigh. Her long chestnut hair was straight today and she had her bangs covering her forehead.

She lifted her head up and zoomed over to me. Her hazel eyes examined both my hands trying to find the one that was hurt—shortly after she saw the bloody knuckles on my right hand.

"Natsume!" she grabbed my wrist and inspected my more then likely broke knuckles. "Why did you do it?"

I hesitated to answer. I hadn't told anyone about my reoccurring dream—not even Ruka. I thought voicing it out would jinx it and I really would lose her.

"I was upset about something…" it wasn't really a lie—but it wasn't fully the truth either.

She stared into my crimson orbs, her eyes softened and I felt her concern swim through me.

"It's ok if you're not ready to tell me," Mikan whispered, lightly caressing my fingers. She broke our eye contact to look back down at our hands.

_She's getting really good at reading me…_

The blue glow surrounded her as she activated her healing Alice and turned it on the source of my throbbing knuckles. The bone shifted back into its rightful position and the skin closed back up, everything back to normal.

Mikan lifted her beautiful face up again and looked at me skeptically. How could I tell her that I kept having a dream about her being tortured, and me searching for her? That some evil 'thing' was trying to get to her through me? That I was afraid she wouldn't be able to defend herself if someone attacked her. The stone in my pocket grew heavier.

_Give her the necklace you moron! _My conscience yelled—coaching me. I ignored it; I wasn't giving it to her yet.

"You should really stop hurting yourself," her voice was in a soft whisper "this is the 3rd time I've had to heal you"

"I know," I sighed. "It's just difficult…" I muttered, tracing my finger lightly down her cheek; she shivered.

"Natsume," Mikan whispered. The concern was still in her eyes.

_I forced a mental block in my mind and allowed my mind find which way it was to her. An invisible tread of silver pointed me to the first tunnel and I sprinted down the dirt corridor. I passed old cells and my fear grew when I heard her screams echo through the dirt walls._

_**Natsume… her voice sounded so fragile. I told her I was coming soon and told her how she would be safe once I got there. I started to sprint again and followed the thread to a huge locked wooden door.**_

I shook the dream from my mind and gave her the best smile I could. Her hazel orbs stared at me a moment, finally she smiled warmly at me. After she smiled at me I finally realized that we were still extremely close to each other.

Ideas popped into my head that would help ease myself and calm my anxiety—prove that she was still with me and not being hurt. I would just do something that would be slightly unexpected to the brunette in front of me.

I closed the distance between us so there was only about 2 cm between our chests from touching. I lifted her face up to mine in one swift movement. I leaned down, brushing my lips against hers. She sucked in a mouthful of air and her cheeks heated up; she mumbled something incomprehensive. Smirking at my ability to make her so flustered, I erased the space between us and claimed her lips.

She pulled back slightly, her hazel orbs were wide and she was blushing fiercely.

"What was that for," Mikan asked.

"Felt like it," I smirked again. That caused a bright scarlet to flash across her cheeks. Pushing back her bangs, I gazed into her eyes and smiled. "Had to make sure you were still with me,"

Confusion flashed across her face. "What do you mean, Natsume?"

"Nothing,"

I guess that means kissing her calms me—my anxiety at least. I smirked and turned around.

"What were we suppose to be doing today again?" I asked. I heard the rustle of the couch as she plopped herself down on it.

"Test out Hotaru's new inventions…" I chuckled at the dread in her voice. I walked over to my table where I had a clean white shirt sitting. Lifting the hem of my shirt I slide it off.

"Nothing else?" I looked over my shoulder. She was avoiding my gaze and a light blush was on her cheeks.

"We-well, then I was going to ask Jii-chan if he found out anything else about Luna and the Koizumi's," she mumbled, she peeked up at me and looked back down straight away.

I blinked. Why is she blushing… oh right, I'm half-naked. A slight smirk grew on my face as I pulled the shirt back on.

"You know, Polka…" I walked towards her and leaned my face on the side of her head.

"Its kind of dangerous to be in a room alone with a guy," I whispered huskily in her ear. I turned back around and headed to back to the mirror. Sensing danger from behind me I quickly moved to the left; A book whizzed past me.

"PERVERT!" she yelled. I turned around and wagged my eyebrows at her just to tease her. I dodged another book while I ruffled my hair in the mirror.

*Mikan's POV *

Curse that pervert! I growled in my head. A blush was still framing my face. I walked down the hall back to my room. Opening the door I slide in, I went straight to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face; Getting rid of my blush.

"There…" I breathed.

I collected myself and went back to the door. Hotaru had told everyone to come to her room to test out the new inventions she had made.

Personally, I didn't like the idea of being used as a human guinea pig. But everyone else seemed fine to do it, beats me why…

I knocked on her bright red door.

"Hotaru?" I opened the door and saw Natsume and Ruka lounging on her beanbags. Aoi, Tsubasa, and Misaki were all sitting on the edge of the bed right in front of Hotaru.

I raised an eyebrow and sat down in the only empty beanbag left.

"Ok, now that we're all here," Hotaru began "Let's get this thing started. Mikan, try contacting your Jii-chan, we need to find out as much information we can about the Koizumi before we tell Natsume's folks,"

I nodded my head. I focused in on Jii-chan as Hotaru continued talking to everyone else about what was going on.

_Jii-chan?_

_I'm here Mi-chan. What is it?_

I sighed in relief. I'm glad it wasn't just some dream that I talked to Jii-chan yesterday.

_We want to know as much as we can about what's going on over there so we can tell the Hyuuga King and Queen._

_Ah, yes. The Koizumi we're chatting outside our cell and they were talking about how Luna would rule all the Kingdoms soon, now that she was on the Sakura Throne._

"Mikan, anything?" the ice queen asked me.

"Yeah. He said that Luna was planning on going after all the other Kingdoms,"

Her eyes narrowed and a small robot was taking down everything we found out about the Koizumi's.

_Anything else?_

_No, Mi-chan that's all we can get. Well… I could ask Lucy to use her hearing Alice, but they have a strong barrier around us right now. We need to wait until its dark—when the guard on duty falls asleep._

_Okay! Tell me if you find anything else out. _

"There's nothing else that he knows right now. Just the basic, Koizumi are everywhere in the Palace, they have a barrier up stopping the people in the dungeon from using their Alice's and Luna is plotting something," I gnawed on my lip.

"Ok, that'll do for now. It's enough to give Natsume's folks a heads up about the Koizumi," she muttered.

"Now I have a bunch of stuff to help if the Koizumi come,"

She handed Natsume a small black earring and he replaced his current one for the new one. Ruka got a small circular metal object—smaller then my nail. He put it on the inside of his ear at the very top.

"Transmitters, put them obviously in your ear. Press the ball at the end to turn it on," she muttered moving on to the next person.

She stopped in front of Tsubasa and handed him a black pen.

"A pen…?" he asked.

"It's a sword," she stared at him unmoving.

Tsubasa stared at the black pen in his hand. "It's a PEN,"

A vein popped in her forehead and she pressed the top of the pen. It made a click noise and a gleaming black sword now lay in his hand. Tsubasa's jaw dropped.

"If you're going to keep that, I suggest you get Koko, or Mochi to help you learn how to use it,"

She gave Misaki a sticker with some kind of symbol on it. "That will preserve how long you can use your Alice without getting tired,"

"And Aoi," she handed her a silver dragon pendant. "Makes your presence completely hidden and unknown,"

"Cooool," Aoi murmured. She clipped the pendant on around her neck.

"Do we get to keep these?" Misaki asked.

"Yes, everyone gets one of each. Except for the pen, only Tsubasa gets that," Hotaru muttered.

Hotaru now stood in front of me. She was holding a small brown bag.

"This fortune teller once told me I'd know when I'd need these…" she set the bag in my hands. I looked up at her wide-eyed.

"Ho-Hotaru, are you sure? Someone gave these to you…" I drifted off.

"It's fine, I think you're the one they were supposed to be used for,"

I opened the bag and two smooth stones dropped into my hand, a light green and a dark purple.

"These are…"

"Alice stones," she said monotone.

I rubbed my finger over the smooth surface, the pad of my finger warming.

"It's said that if you wear Alice stones you will be more lucky," Hotaru murmured. Two gold fasteners sat at the bottom of the bag—it was made specifically to use to hook a stone inside. I carefully set the stones back inside and closed the tie.

"Ok, since we don't know what the Koizumi want, I think it would be smart if we each wore these at all times," Hotaru mumbled wrapping a chain around her neck as well.

"Plus, if something goes wrong, we'll at least have something to help us with," she finished.

When she said if something does wrong, we all knew she meant if the Koizumi come here. I shivered involuntarily, this place is way more modern then my Kingdom was, there's no way an attack would happen… right? Unease tickled my stomach.

_You have nothing to worry about, Mikan… _I looked up at the flame caster. _I'll be there to get you if anything happens. You can count on it._

I smiled warmly at him and held the bag of Alice stones to my chest.

*Time Skip*

Natsume leaned down, claiming my lips once again. I pulled him closer to me and let the taste of him sink into my lips. Tracing my cheek, he reluctantly pulled back.

"Good night," we both murmured.

I opened my door and gave him a final glance before walking into my room. I walked to my closet and peeled off my clothes. I grabbed a pair of cozy sweats and an oversized shirt before I went to the bathroom and did my routine.

I turned off the lights, then slipped into my bed.

I lay there for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 45 minutes and … 2 hours.

"I can't sleep!" I growled.

I pushed the blankets off me and clambered onto the floor. Stretching up tall, I grabbed a warm sweater and decided to go for a walk. I had an urge to go see the sakura tree…

Taking a faster—but dangerous—route, I opened my balcony door and stepped into the cool night air. Shutting the door as quietly as I could, I walked further onto the balcony. I put my leg over the railing and cautiously put the other leg over. Then I jumped… straight into the shrub under me.

"Owww," I whined. I healed myself quickly then hurried on my way again. Walking around the perimeter of the castle, I finally reached the sakura tree. I grinned at the tree and climbed up onto the closest branch. I leaned my head against the tree and closed my eyes. A newly acquired memory played in my head.

_"Prettyyyy~" I squealed. I walked up to a big open spot. "Why isn't there anything here?" I asked looking at him with my big hazel orbs._

_He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was a big seed._

_"What's that?" I asked._

_"A sakura seed"_

_"Wooow, really?"_

_He nodded._

_"So what are you gong to do with it?"_

_"Plant it, so the next time you come, you can see a big Sakura tree" he dug into the ground and gently set the seed inside. "Do you want to do the honors?"_

_I sat down beside him and grabbed a handful of dirt. I poured the dirt over top an patted it down—rubbing my cheek I looked up and grinned at him._

_He smirked. "Baka~"_

_"What?" I asked wide-eyed._

_He put his hand on my cheek. "You have dirt all over your face now"_

_"What!" I quickly placed my hand on my cheek, only to cover his hand with mine. "Oh, I'm sorry," I pulled my hand back._

_"It's fine," he said grabbing my hand again. I blushed and let him lace his fingers with mine._

_"We should go back inside," he turned away so I couldn't see his face._

_"Okay," I squeezed his hand and followed beside him in silence._

I grinned and opened my eyes. This was "our" tree.

"The Sakura tree is bigger than when you last saw it," the flame caster sat down beside me. I smiled at him and leaned down against his chest.

*Natsume's POV*

**Natsume… It's getting closer now. How will you keep her safe?**

_I clenched my teeth and ran straight through the first tunnel not stopping to check the thread. I could feel her pulling me to her, calling for me to get her._

"_I'm coming for you!" I yelled at nothing. My reassurance bouncing off the dirt walls around me._

**Hahahaha… **

"_Shut up!" I sprinted faster and once the wooden door came into view I burned it down. I burst into the musty room and glanced around hungrily. I searched for the thread but it just appeared and fell limp onto the ground—completely useless._

**HAHAHAHAHA~**

"_SHUT UP!"_

**Our deal won't disappear! You have no choice!**

"_Go to hell!" I hissed. I ran against the door that was hidden inside the room._

**Where did you think I was from? Hahahaha**

"_**Mikan? Mikan! MIKAN!" Her screaming started again and rage bubbled inside me.**_

"_**Damn bastard, SHOW YOURSELF" **_

**You won't see her again unless you complete your deal!**

_I yelled out in frustration; I punched a dent through one of the doors, breaking the skin on my knuckles again._

"_Bring it on!"_

_*End of Dream*_

"Mikan!" I jumped up from my bed panting. I brought my hands to my face and wiped the sweat off.

"Dang it," I whispered. I ran a hand through my bangs pulling them from my face. I slipped from my bed and headed to the bathroom—I took off my sweaty PJ's and had a quick shower, then put the Alice stone pendant around my neck.

I pulled another set of clean PJ's on and went to stand out on the balcony. The cool air was welcome as it caressed my face and ruffled my hair.

I emptied my mind and frowned when I thought about the dream I just had. I don't like it, not one bit. Not really thinking, I glanced over at Mikan's room. Her balcony door was slightly a jar and unease ran through me.

"_**Natsume… It's getting closer now. How will you keep her safe?**_

_**You won't see her again unless you complete your deal!"**_

I let the thin silver thread hang in the air. I jumped off the balcony with one easy stride, after I recovered from the impact, I followed the thread around the Palace. I stopped when the glowing sakura tree came into view—I stood there admiring its beauty when the figure of the brunette caught my eye. I strode over to the tree and climbed up beside her.

_"Plant it, so the next time you come, you can see a big Sakura tree" I dug into the ground and gently set the seed inside. "Do you want to do the honors?"_

_She sat down beside me and grabbed a handful of dirt. I watched her pour the dirt over top and pat it down—She wiped her cheeks and gave me a silly grin._

"The Sakura tree is bigger than when you last saw it," I said getting comfortable beside her. She turned and smiled at me, leaning down gently on my chest and I wrapped my arms comfortably around her.

"Yeah, it is…" she whispered.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while.

"Hey, why are you out here? It's like 2 AM," I asked. She laced her fingers through mine and I pulled her on my lap.

"Couldn't sleep…" she mumbled barely incomprehensive.

"You too huh," I dropped my head over hers. I felt myself becoming drowsy.

"You couldn't sleep?" she asked.

"No, I had a… bad dream,"

"Natsume Hyuuga having a bad dream?"

I frowned, "Yes, your point,"

"Oh, Nothing,"

"Mmm, I'm sure,"

"Exactly," she yawned.

I picked her up in my arms and slide over closer to the trunk. Resting my back on the trunk, I put my legs up on the branch—balancing myself like a cat.

"Oh, I see," I closed my eyes.

She didn't reply. I opened my eyes and looked down at her sleeping form. Deciding that falling asleep in the tree too wouldn't be very safe—I lifted her in my arms once again and jumped to the ground. I carried her bridal style to her room.

Once I reached her balcony, I somehow managed to climb up with her on my back.

"Ah, how did I get stuck with doing this?" I murmured. I walked into her room and tucked her in her blankets. Pressing a quick kiss on her forehead, I made my way back to the balcony. Stopping before I opened the door, I looked back at her sleeping form—touching the Alice pendant around my neck, I walked back to her.

I slipped the necklace from my neck and hung it around the bedpost—the bright scarlet catching the light of the moon.

"Good night Mikan,"

I leapt from her balcony back over to mine and headed from the bed—no nightmares awaited me.

* * *

**Yay, this chapters done.**

**Remember to review, please and thank you! ^.^**

**Thank you's too;**

**VeronicaLover123- aww, haha. Thankyou for your review ^.^**

**bunnyjumps- Haha, the evil people can't mark Mikan, so its all good.**

**Kylee-Cat- You'll find out soon!**

**cookiemonster fan- I plan on continuing it :)**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Haha, thank you very much!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Heyy~**

**Here's Chapter 18... Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 18:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

I woke up and stared blankly at the ceiling for awhile. Since when was there a ceiling above the sakura tree, I don't think that's right…I frowned and stared at the ceiling some more. Weeirrrddd…Wait… I'm not outside! Laughing at my stupidity, I sat up rubbing my tired eyes. I ran my fingers through my hair, making it appear neater then it was.

_Natsume must have brought me to my room…_ I blushed at the thought as images of him tucking me in and telling me goodnight flowed in my mind. I shook my head violently and a gleam of scarlet caught my eye—turning around lazily my gaze went to my bedpost.

"Whoa," I sucked in a breath. A beautiful scarlet stone pendant with a golden fastener hung around my bedpost. An image of Natsume popped into my mind and I smiled.

I grabbed the stone in my hand and gasped. It was an Alice stone! I studied the stone again and let my finger slide across the surface.

"Natsume's Alice stone…" I muttered shocked. I started blushing two seconds after that sunk in. There was a legend about giving people your Alice stones… and it had to do with promising your future to the other person—or something like that.

Coming back to reality, I grabbed the chain and slide it up free from the bed. Tying it around my neck, I went to go get dressed. I had the feeling that today it would be best if I wore something comfortable, so I grabbed one of my newly found favorite baggy black shirts and loose shorts.

I hide the pendant under my shirt and made sure it wasn't visible in anyway—I had a weird ESP moment…

"Oh! I have a chain to put those 2 other stones on now…" I went to my bed and lifted my pillow up. Sitting down, I grabbed the small brown pouch and untied it. Two Alice stones slipped from inside and I picked up the 2 gold fasteners.

Gnawing on my lip, I grabbed the light green stone and carefully set it inside the fastener—it 'clicked' and was secured into place. I repeated it again with the purple Alice stone. Grabbing both fasteners, I placed them on the other pendant's chain. Natsume's Alice stone was the biggest—It was 1/4th the size of my palm, and the two other's were about the size of a dollar.

I put the necklace back on and hid it beneath my shirt. For some reason I was craving for Hotaru's invisible cloak—or something similar—to hid my necklace from anyone else. I didn't want anyone to take it from me… I made a beeline out my door and headed down the hall. Opening the door, I went into Hotaru's room.

"Hotar—"

**Baka, Baka, Baka.**

"Don't run into other peoples rooms without knocking," she said—she blew the smoke from the gun and set it back down on the desk. I nervously stared at the gun.

"What do you want Baka?" she muttered.

"Ugh, sorry. But I wanted to ask two favors from you,"

"What? I'm busy,"

She started tinkering with a remote on her desk. Sparks were flying up and she pulled down a welder's mask over her face that was lying beside her. She stopped torching it and took her mask off.

"Can you give me something that will make this invisible to other people?" I showed her my Alice stone necklace. She stared at it and smirked.

I caught the sticker she threw at me and I grinned. "Put it on the scarlet stone,"

I stuck the sticker on and held it up for Hotaru to see.

"It looks like you're trying to hold onto the air you idiot," she turned back to her work and I glared at her.

"Thanks!" I went silent for a minute, "Umm, how do you make an Alice stone?"

She turned back towards me and raised an eyebrow.

"Concentrate really hard about trying to make one, and think of a really strong feeling. Like love…" she said, "Now leave me alone"

A ran up to her and gave her a big huge before she could kill me. "Thanks Hotaru!"

I left the room before she ended up charging me for her inventions.

Smiling from ear to ear, I headed back to my room to sit on my balcony until someone came and told me other wise. This morning would be my lazy day. I touched the cool scarlet stone that rested against my skin.

_Natsume… _

_Yeah? _His voice filled the silence in my head.

_Thank you._

_For— oh, yeah… _He drifted off and I giggled.

Sitting down on the balcony, I clasped both hands together and went into deep concentration. I thought of Natsume and making an Alice stone for him. After what felt like an eternity I felt something in my hand—opening my hand I saw a small orange stone lay in my palm. Smiling with satisfaction, I closed my fist and ran back out to the hallway.

I knocked on Natsume's door and waited.

"Yeah?" he said when he opened the door. I grabbed his hand and gave him the small Alice stone—then I skipped back to my room, giving him a glance over my shoulder.

_Mikan… _I smiled at him then disappeared back into my room.

*Time Skip*

_Knock, Knock._

I looked up from my book and glance back inside my room.

"Come in!" I yelled at the door. Closing my book, I looked down over the balcony's railing. The door creaked open and Hotaru glided over to me.

"We're all going to go to Alice Fields," she muttered leaning against the doorframe. "Except for Aoi, she has a date or something."

"Alice Fields? Really," I turned around to look at my best friend.

"Yeah, the event there is finished, so there won't be anyone there. We won't have to worry about people bothering us,"

"Cool! When are we leaving?"

"Now,"

"Ok… NOW?"

"Hurry up Baka," She left the room two seconds later and I spurred into action. I ran around my room trying to find something for my hair. Grabbing a hair tie off the bathroom sink to pull my hair back, I ran from the room—touching my necklace to make sure the sticker was still on it.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and flung my shoes on. Making a beeline to the door and stepped onto the awaiting carriage. Plopping down on the empty spot beside a sleeping Natsume, I finally caught my breath.

I stared at Hotaru—giving her a look.

"I told you we were leaving," she muttered.

"Why didn't you give me a heads up?" I breathed.

"I didn't feel like it," she bluntly replied. Sighing, I pulled my hair up in a ponytail and let it lay on my shoulder.

"Of course you didn't," I murmured. The thought of seeing this landmark made excitement buzz through me, I wonder what its like.

"I can't wait 'til we get to Alice Fields!" Tsubasa cheered out, "I haven't been there since I was 16"

"I know me too!" Misaki piped up.

I looked at the two of them chatting excitedly about what it was like when they last were there and my excitement grew.

"Mikan, you're going to love this place! It's amazing," Misaki said leaning over to look at me.

"Ah, really? This place sounds so cool, I'm excited to see it!" I giggled.

"Yeah! Alice Fields is huge and the gate leading to the main road is amazing!"

"Whoa, there's a gate?"

"Yup, the wall is like 20 feet tall and so is the gate. So it's like huge!" she started, "Ah, it's so hard to explain. It's one of those you need to see it to understand things,"

I blinked. This place must be really something then.

A wave of unease ran through me—but it wasn't mine. I glanced over at Natsume's sleeping form; I poked a finger in his side.

"Natsume…?" I whispered.

He shook his head and looked down at me. His crimson eyes widened and he looked around the coach. I frowned and studied him—he was still uneasy and something started filling his mind… anxiety. I grabbed his hand and squeezed.

_What's with you lately? You seem really freaked out about something._

His gaze went back to me and his face remained neutral—except for the nervousness in his orbs. Concern started to swim through me.

_Natsume?_

_It's nothing, just had another bad dream._

Just had another bad dream…

He was having bad dreams almost every time he closed his eyes it seemed like.

_Ok…_

He studied my face and sighed. This guy is starting to really worry me.

"Hey, promise me something," he whispered.

"Ok,"

"Don't leave on your own today,"

I frowned, "Why not?"

"I… just have this feeling," his anxiety returned again and I felt my own worry over whatever was bugging him come nagging in the back of my mind.

"About what?"

"Nothing much," he didn't leave room for anymore questions cause he pressed a quick kiss on my lips.

I blushed. It was also random kisses he was giving me…

"Nat-Natsume?"

He didn't say anything; just turned around and watched the trees pass by as we headed into Alice Fields.

*Natsume's POV*

_I fell to my knees in agony. Clenching my teeth, I glared at the witch in front of me. This wasn't going as planned! I needed to get to her; I needed to SAVE her._

"_Bastard!" I spat._

**Oh, Natsume dear. It's already too late. Plans are already set into motion today is the day! Your Mikan will be taken from you! HAHAHAHA…**

"_That will never happen! I'll protect her!" I wobbled to a standing position and wiped the blood dripping from my lips. Glaring at my opponent I watched for an opening._

**Hate to break it to you, but I doubt it!**

_I growled and threw a burning inferno towards it. I needed to end this, and I needed to end it NOW._

"_Why don't you just shut up?" I snarled. The monster laughed—filling the space with an evil cackling._

**I'm afraid I can't.**

_We continued our dance of death once again. _

"_NATSUME!" Her scream ran through me—keeping me from fainting._

I opened my eyes quickly; Mikan was leaning towards me with a questioning look. My eyes widened and I stared around at our friends chatting amongst themselves. I could feel Polka staring at me and it was comforting—in the sense that I knew she was beside me…

Ugh! She is always going to be by my side, nothing is going to take her away. I mentally growled at the voice in my head telling me to take her back to the Palace. I felt her soft hands connect with mine and squeeze.

_What's with you lately? You seem really freaked out about something._

I looked back at her trying to cool my emotions, I could tell I wasn't doing a good job of it because her concern started to flow around me.

_Natsume?_

_It's nothing, just had another bad dream. _I really wish it was just a dream and it wasn't real. That I was just slowly loosing my mind and everything would be fine.

_Ok…_

I stared at her—searching her innocent hazel orbs. Why must everything have to do with her being hurt? I sighed.

"Hey, promise me something," I whispered.

"Ok,"

"Don't leave on your own today,"

She frowned, "Why not?"

"I… just have this feeling," I muttered—I couldn't admit that I was afraid. Afraid that what that person had said… she was referring to today. The thought made my blood boil and I felt sick to my stomach.

"About what?" she leaned a tad closer to me.

"Nothing much,"

This girl was going to keep asking questions, I could feel it. So I decided to see if what people say is true… the best way to make someone shut up is to kiss them—and that's what I did. I closed the distance between us and kissed her. I stayed there for a second longer, just to make her quiet for even longer. I pulled away and turned to the window—anxiety filling me as I realized we were entering Alice Fields.

"Nat-Natsume?"

Her voice rang around my head, I felt myself numbing and I tried my best to shake it off. We pulled up to the paved entryway and Koko stopped the carriage.

I opened the door reluctantly and we all pilled out into the breezy air.

"Whoa…" Mikan whispered from beside me. I grabbed her hand automatically.

"This place is…amazing," she breathed. I looked around at the huge grassy area. Huge sakura trees were shading the dark green grass of the field and a paved road made its way to the huge iron fence that towered over us just a few meters away. The wall its self was made out of pure white marble—it was 5 feet thick. The field was very hilly from the huge Alice battle the happened here a hundred years ago.

"Yay! We're here," Tsubasa sang. I stared blankly at the moron as he ran towards the field with his arms stretched out on either side of him.

"Tsubasa! You idiot," Misaki yelled after him "Wait up!"

She ran after him—her pink hair flowing behind her. Tsubasa looked back and saw Misaki running at him and he picked up speed—running away from her.

"Tsubasa!" she laughed. They ran around and around until they both fell down panting.

We all shared looks with each other and made our way towards the two people stretched out on the grass. Imai took pictures of the couple together, then hide her camera again. I raised an eyebrow—I still needed to burn those photos she got of Mikan and me the other day…

I grimaced at the thought of what she my use them for. Probably blackmail… yeah, that seems about right. I sat down under the shade of the sakura tree and pulled Mikan down beside me. She squeaked and plopped down beside me.

"You didn't need to pull me down," she pouted.

"Hmm, I know," I teased. She punched my arm lightly.

I grinned at her earning a small glare in return. Laughing, I laid down on the grass letting her hand slowly slip from my grasp. My head rested on her lap and she began absentmindedly combing her fingers through my hair. It felt… nice, so I just closed my eyes as she continued running her fingers through my raven locks.

"Hey, guys," Ruka suddenly popped up. I opened my eyes to see him lying lazily on the ground. "What are we going to do out here anyways?"

We looked around at each other—we didn't actually have a reason to come here. We just did…

I pursed my lips. "No clue,"

"Ditto," Mikan muttered.

"Well, I don't know about you guys… but I want to play hide n'seek," Tsubasa grinned.

"Hide n'seek!" Mikan gasped, "I love that game," she giggled.

"Why don't we play then? We don't have anything better to do," he suggested. Everyone looked at each other and we broke out in sly grins.

"Tsubasa's it!" Misaki shouted. After that we all scattered like birds and ran in opposite directions—while Tsubasa covered his eyes and started counting. I grabbed Mikan's hand and lead her to a little creak, taking a look around I spotted a tree thickly covered in leaves and started climbing.

"Come on," I grinned. She followed up shortly after. We perched at the highest branch—getting a great vantage point of the field. I saw Misaki hiding behind a bush directly in front of Tsubasa. I pointed it out to Mikan and her eyes widened. We stared at them waiting to see what would happen.

Tsubasa was about to look over the bush and we held our breath—just then Misaki made a clone of herself and made it run in the opposite direction. He sprinted after the clone and the real Misaki ran up a near by tree.

Mikan held back her giggle when the clone poofed away leaving a stunned Tsubasa. He turned around looking in every direction. I looked around us—I saw Ruka lying down in a ditch a couple feet away from us. Imai was in one of her inventions disguised as a fallen log. Tsubasa started coming this way and we placed the branches in front of us—moving further into the tree so the thick leaves hid us from view.

"I know someone's over here!" he called out. I peeked out and glanced at Ruka he was slowly sliding towards a group of bushes.

I taped Mikan's shoulder and mouthed Ruka's about to be caught. I looked back and Tsubasa was standing at the top of the ditch looking at all of the trees. We held our breath and waited. Tsubasa took a step forward and seemed to realize for the first time there was a ditch there.

It happened in slow motion—Tsubasa tripped trying to stop himself from falling down, Ruka sensing he was about to get caught attempted to make a run for it but was stopped by Tsubasa's body toppling over him.

I mentally snorted when the two propped themselves on their elbows and stared at each other.

"Ruka!" Tsubasa shouted, "I found you~"

Ruka groaned. "Yes, yes,"

He moved up onto the grass and sprawled out as he watched Tsubasa advance back towards the spot where he first saw the clone. He looked behind the bush, narrowed his eyes and looked straight up in the tree where Misaki sat.

"Found you, Misaki!" He taped her on the foot and she dropped to the ground. Huffing, she walked over to Ruka and sat beside him. Tsubasa put his hands on his hips and looked around once again. He walked towards the "fallen log" and kicked his foot against it.

"Owww!" he whined holding his foot. He glared at the log and then kneeled down.

_Busted… _I thought. He held up a small note that said "Owner: Hotaru Imai", raising his eyebrows he knocked on the log. Seconds later it opened up and the owner herself crawled out.

"Found you Hotaru," he grinned. She glared at him and glided over to Ruka and Misaki.

"Now I have to find Natsume and Mikan," he started back towards us and looked around. He moved back bushes and glanced behind trees—he was slowly making his way towards our tree. He stopped directly under us and we held our breath. I slipped a hand around Mikan's mouth and motioned with my hands to keep quiet—she nodded her head.

"Natsume… Mikan," He called. Tsubasa looked up our tree and I froze.

_Don't let him see us, don't let him see us… _Mikan muttered over and over again through our telepathy. I popped a flame on a piece of his hair and waited.

"Hmm," he blinked "I smell something burning,"

I wagged my eyebrows at Mikan. _I'm a genius._

_You wish. _I could feel her lips moving up to a grin under my hand.

"AHH! I'm burning!" He started patting his head and running around like someone just cut his head off. He threw himself in the creak and let the water soak him.

I snorted—and thankfully Misaki was laughing her head off so it was masked.

"Oh my gosh, Tsubasa! That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" she snorted.

He glared at her and stood up—water drained down from him in huge heaps. He looked back around the small creak again.

"I give up!" He huffed. I turned around and looked at Mikan—we jumped from the branch and walked up to the rest of them.

"Aww, I was so close to finding you two!" Tsubasa whined. I smirked at him.

"It's okay, Tsubasa!" Mikan laughed. We headed back towards the paved area where we first had stopped.

"Now what?" Misaki asked. "I think we should just stay out here and lay in the sun,"

"Agree," Mikan plopped down in the grass. Everyone following her example shortly after.

We sat in a comfortable silence for about an hour—finally, we got up and stretched our tired limbs. I looked around at the bright sun. My watch told me it was almost 4:00 PM.

"Hey, I think we should get Koko back here to come get—" a huge explosion burst from behind us—knocking us down onto our faces. Coughing I flipped over and stared through the haze of smoke that surrounded the wall beside the gate.

_**Oh, Natsume dear. It's already too late. Plans are already set into motion today is the day! Your Mikan will be taken from you! HAHAHAHA…**_

My eyes widened—fear ran around me, mocking me. "Mikan!" I called out. The smoke was blocking my vision and I crawled over to the last spot I saw her. Finally, she came into view—she was spitting the grass out of her mouth.

"Mikan, come here!" I held my hand out to her and she grabbed onto it. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around in a protective stance. Our friends got up coughing and we stared into the smoke.

Another shock hit and we were knocked off our feet again.

"Guys! Something's coming, get ready!" Ruka yelled. I called my fire forth and everyone got their Alice's at the ready. Misaki already had 3 clones of herself and Imai was holding two huge Baka canons in her hands.

"Mikan!" the ice queen yelled. She tossed the gun at her once she looked at her. "Use that!"

Mikan nodded and quickly stood at the ready. I looked at the way she held the gun. How does she know how to use a Baka gun?

A loud groaning came from through the haze and we all froze. A roar came and I narrowed my eyes at a spot were black dots were appearing from inside the smoke. They got close enough that I realized what they were.

"Shit!" I breathed. "Everybody run, that way. NOW," I hissed. We broke out into a sprint just as the group of Koizumi came from the smoky haze. We halted our steps when figures came from in front of us—we're surrounded. I turned around with Mikan behind me. I faced the approaching enemy and light two fireballs in my palms.

I narrowed my eyes and waited for them to come into closer range.

"Imai can you contact the guards somehow!" I shouted as I sent the huge ball of fire towards the group of men.

"Trying!" she yelled back.

**Baka, Baka, Baka.**

Mikan looked at her gun. She scrunched her nose and lifted it up at the figures I was throwing fireballs at. She started shooting, knocking one, two, three guys out. Grinning down at her, I set up a wall of fire in front of us—forcing the Koizumi to back away.

"Hyuuga, the army is on their way! They say it'll take a couple minutes," Imai twirled her Baka gun and aimed at some guys face.

"That's not fast enough!" I grunted. Tsubasa jumped up beside me as more Koizumi started coming. He got a hold of their shadows through the smoke and held them in place. I surrounded them in fire and let that do the rest—we continued to tag team until our side was done. I turned around and scanned the side opposite us.

Misaki, Imai, and Ruka were fighting off about 10 Koizumi. I sprinted to Ruka's side as a Kozumi made his way from behind him. Jumping up, I raised my fist and landed a solid hit to his face. He dropped down in pain and Ruka gave me a smile.

"Tsubasa, Hold their shadows!" I ordered. I looked around for Mikan and froze.

"Dammit!" I hissed. I pushed her to the ground in one swift movement. She let out a surprised squeak.

I grunted as the Koizumi landed on me with full force. I grappled him against the ground—I held a fireball in my hand but was thrown off him by a strong force of wind.

"Crap," I lit another hand of fire and thrust it at him. He jumped to his side avoiding it at the last second.

"So you wanna play huh," the Koizumi said. I glared at him and wrapped my fire around him—he blew it away and I growled.

**Baka, Baka, Baka. **

The wind user was hit in the back by a Baka gun shot by Mikan. I wrapped my fire around him again and turned him to a crisp quickly. I ran up to Mikan and pulled her towards me, breathing in her scent.

_Stay by me _I stared into her eyes. She nodded her head and we started fighting off another set of Koizumi. I went back to back with her and we tried making our way back towards the others. After beating 3 Koizumi, we found them again.

My eyes widened as someone jumped onto my back—Grunting when I got a mouthful of dirt. Mikan screamed—I don't know if it was because of what just happened to me or something else, I don't know. But I knew I needed to get him off me NOW.

I threw my body as hard as I could to turn around. I came face to face with an ugly bald kid—I narrowed my eyes and set him on fire, he fell off me screaming and I turned around desperately trying to find Mikan.

_Natsume!_

"Mikan!" I shouted. I used our tracking and followed the thread further into the smoky haze. I got there just in time to see a group of Koizumi holding onto each other's shoulders. I knew what was about to happen—and I wasn't going to let it happen!

"Dammit!" I threw myself at the guy holding Mikan. His expression was one I would never forget—he smiled at me, an ugly broken tooth smile. Then he faded into nothing, along with the rest of the Koizumi. I landed onto the ground—where the Koizumi and Mikan had once been.

"MIKAN!" I yelled.

* * *

**Ahh, Mikan's been kidnapped once again :/**

**Let's see how this turns out, hmm ^.^**

**Remember to review, please and thank you.**

**Thank you's too;**

**bunnyjumps- yeahh, I had to do that. It was just so tempting :p**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Why thank you~**

**Thank you for your review(s) (Plus other people as well for reviewing earlier chapters ...) ^.^**


	19. Chapter 19

**Heyy, this chapter wasn't as long as I hoped it would be...**

**But anyways~ Here it is,**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 19:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

Once Natsume had turned the Koizumi into a crisp—he ran over to me and pulled me into his arms. I sighed with relief—that Koizumi would have got me if it weren't for him.

_Stay by me _He stared at me intently and I nodded my head quickly. He grabbed my hand and we made a run through the smoke towards the sound of everyone else fighting. We ran into 3 other Koizumi's and Natsume quickly got rid of them. Finally, we saw them and we slowed our step. Something caught my eye and I turned around.

Some young bald guy tackled Natsume to the ground and firm hands grabbed my side and pulled me backwards. I screamed out in shock just as he hit the ground. The strong grip around my waist dragged me backwards and I flung my feet out trying to stop myself. Grass stuck to the bottom of my heel, doing nothing to help stop me.

I was slammed against the guy's chest and the Koizumi that were close to us sprinted towards the guy behind me.

"Teleport now!" the last Koizumi said as he sped to us.

I started to panic—I don't want to be taken by the Koizumi again! Tears started filling my hazel orbs. I had to somehow get out of this situation.

_Natsume! _

"Mikan!" His voice came from somewhere in the smoke in front of us. His figure started towards us and he finally broke through the haze into sight.

"Dammit!" He charged at us and leapt into the air coming at us quickly. His face turned shocked and then he started to cloud from my vision—then he was …gone. Tears silently ran down my cheeks as everything around us flashed into darkness.

"NOO! Natsume!" I cried. I struggled in vain as the scenery around me changed into something very familiar to me—The Sakura Kingdom. My tear-streaked face stared shocked at the villagers' houses in front of me. Everything was black from the fire—the buildings were crumbling away and you could see personal items inside sitting there; damaged by the smoke and fire. The man held my upper arm and pulled me along the road.

The other's started radioing to other's that they were back and needed a carriage to come pick us up. I tuned them out and continued looking around the place. It was a ghost town—even the huge silver fountain of angels in the market area wasn't flowing with water. The smell of the freeze fruits and fresh bread wasn't in the air anymore, it was replaced by a disgusting smell of burnt wood, and spoilt food.

I continued to gawk at the village as I was shoved into a carriage. Shaking my head, I threw myself at the door of the coach. I was the only one inside.

"Oh, feisty," the solider opened the door and grabbed onto my face—pulling me to him in a rough jerk. He was missing a lot of teeth and was slightly balding at the top of his head.

"I like 'em that way," he whispered wet against my ear. I pulled back in disgust—only to be pulled back. He brought his face to close for comfort towards mine.

"You're in Koizumi territory now," he narrowed his eyes. He pushed my face backwards and I flew back inside the coach with a thud. The door clicked shut loudly.

"Put a barrier around this one—don't want to find out the hard way if she has Alice or not," the left the carriage and another replaced him—one with a barrier—and took up the drivers seat. I immediately felt the barrier wrap around the carriage.

They don't know about my three Alice's, or about my marks and that I possibly have another Alice—Alice of Mark. They also didn't know that I still had my Telepathy connection regardless with Natsume and Jii-chan. I narrowed my eyes dangerously at the driver. That's right he doesn't know about that, and I'm going to use it to my advantage when I need to—but I must keep everything a secret until everyone comes for me.

I raised my hand up to my neck and the cool chain of my Alice pendant wrapped around my fingers. I closed my eyes—and I have three _other _Alice stones on me and thanks to Hotaru's inventions, they couldn't see it. Whether or not I can use them, I'm not sure.

I reached out with my mark and tried to contact Jii-chan.

_Jii-chan? _I begged I could hear his voice. Maybe he knew why they came to the Hyuuga Kingdom—only to return with me when five other princesses and princes were there.

_Mi-chan? I wasn't excepting—_

I put my head on my lap and silently cried.

_Jii-chan! The- they got me!_

_They got you? Sweetie, what do you mean?_

_The Koizumi! They broke into the Hyuuga gate and teleported away with me!_

My head went silent for what felt like whatever. I was about to switch over to Natsume when he spoke.

_Don't let them know you have any contact with Natsume or me. Don't even hint at having Alice at all—if you have any important items on you, get rid of them now or hide them. They will search you for anything!_

I touched my invisible pendant. _Anything important on me is completely hidden. _

_Okay, I suggest you contact Natsume and tell him everything I'm about to tell you. Tell him straight away! You won't have anytime to do anything once SHE gets her hands on you._

_I'm listening, Jii-chan, what is it?_

I looked out the window—the huge white marble palace was about 10 more minutes away. It still stood tall in all its beautiful glory but it had a huge gloomy atmosphere. The vines from in the gardens had grown up wrapping around the towers hiding it in a mass of green. We started up the road leading to the Palace gate. Fear and curiosity bit at the back of m mind. I went the coaches other window and stared at the top of the hill.

The beautiful sakura tree sat up there calmly guarding the stone temple that lay a couple feet away. By the looks of it, it seemed that the tree and the temple had been untouched—even the decorations were still lining the grass in front of it. I gnawed on my lip—hoping that my parent's resting-place wasn't harmed.

_Luna is planning on making a deal with the Hyuuga Kingdom. If they agree, the Koizumi will leave the Sakura Kingdom alone and not harm anyone else, but they want something in return. They want an engagement between the Koizumi and the Hyuuga Kingdom. However, I've heard that once the Hyuuga's contact Luna, and a deal is made. She'll go after the Hyuuga Kingdom regardless, and kill everyone. You must tell him not to take the deal she offers of a peace treaty. It's all lies and a trick._

_I'll tell him right now._

It's been 20 minutes since I last seen Natsume at Alice Fields. Shocking how time passes by so fast… But It's weird because I haven't felt any of his emotions since the moment we teleported. It was a huge tie between Anger and being upset.

_Natsume?_

I leaned my head back against the seat. I didn't see any point in getting comfortable, so I was just sitting on the floor. I absent mindly played with my fingers.

_Mikan… _His voice was very tiny in my head—barely audible. I sat up straight—Clearing every thought in my head and thinking strictly of just him.

_Natsume! Can you hear me?_

_Mikan…! Mikan! MIKAN!_

I sighed in relief—I thought I had lost him for a second and was two seconds away from bursting into tears.

_Na-Natsume? Is everyone okay?_

_Yeah, we're all fine. The army arrived right after… right after they took you. _Strong bitter feelings ran through our bond towards me. I must have worried him sick…

_I… they took me back home. Jii-chan, he says to tell you not to take the deal that Luna will make with your family no matter what. She's planning on taking your kingdom regardless… we need to put a stop to her._

_Ah, don't worry. I already told my parents and everyone in the kingdom has been notified of what happened. We're making battle strategies as we speak. We'll be there to get you in a day or two tops… I wanted to leave straight away, but everyone thinks its best to get the army from Ruka, and Tsubasa's Kingdom's. They'll arrive tonight shortly after they get all their Alice equipment._

I sigh of relief passed through me. At least they were coming soon—I didn't want to be stuck here with Luna and the Koizumi's forever. I mentally shivered at that thought—I pulled my head up from my knees and glanced outside the Palace was right in front of the coach and I sucked in a nervous breath.

_Natsume… I have to go now. Jii-chan told me not to contact you until I was alone again. I'm at the Palace now… if anything happens—I love you._

_Wait! Mikan, don't—_

_Natsume! I have to, to make sure she doesn't find out about my Alice's._

His anxiety washed through me. _I'll be with Jii-chan and Lucy; I'm going to be okay._

_Ugh, Okay. Don't kill yourself please… I love you._

I smiled but quickly wiped it off my face as the door clicked open. My expression changed quickly to many different things. Shock, horror, fear, anger… and I knew Natsume felt each emotion like a punch in the stomach. I narrowed my eyes and was pulled out of the coach.

*Natsume's POV*

I hit the dirt with my fist over and over again. I hadn't realized I was crying until Ruka patted me on the back—a solemn expression on his face. I cleared my throat and wiped my face with the back of my hand. Almost two seconds later my expression turned into pure anger. I glared at the only Koizumi we managed to stop and was still alive.

I walked over to his form—he was bleeding from his arm and broken leg. Big gashes in his opposite leg prevented him from using Alice or getting away. I stared at his whimpering form. Narrowing my eyes, I grabbed a fist full of his shirt and pulled him eye level to me.

"Where did they take her?" I hissed. He screamed in pain when I put my knee over his broken leg—and pressed.

"I-I don't know!" he cried. I pressed harder—dropping my face over his ear.

"Tell me," I snarled in his ear. My fire had unconsciously summoned and I was burning flames into the guy's clothes. I inched my face closer to his ear.

"Tell me NOW," I hissed fiercely. My body temperature had risen so much—that it was vaporizing the poor guy's eyebrows.

"The-they left back to Luna!" He stammered quickly. I froze, not moving for 5 minutes as I started thinking back.

_**Your Mikan will be taken from you! HAHAHAHA…**_

"_That will never happen! I'll protect her!" I wobbled to a standing position and wiped the blood dripping from my lips. Glaring at my opponent I watched for an opening._

_**Hate to break it to you, but I doubt it!**_

"Dammit…" I hissed. Those aren't just dreams then… crap. I threw the Koizumi back to the ground—he was already dead. Must've passed when I was thinking. But that doesn't matter anymore… What does matter is what they want with Mikan. I let my flames lick my arms over and over again—everyone was staying away from me by at least 3 meters because the heat leaking from me was way too much. The Koizumi was swallowed by the flames and turned to dust. Eventually my flames cooled down, but my body was still sending out heat—not enough to hurt anyone.

"Natsume…" I looked up at my best friend. His face was covered in dust and mug was stuck in his hair. Everyone else looked basically the same.

"The army says there isn't any Koizumi left here. We should head back to the Palace," he muttered. I jogged away heading towards Koko with the awaiting coach. His face solemn as he bowed to me and opened the door. Everyone quickly sat down with me and we sped off towards the Palace.

No one spoke the entire way back.

We pulled up to the gate entryway to the main road leading to the Palace entrance. Koko slowed down as we reached the door. Once we stopped, I stood up and let myself out not waiting for Koko to do it. I stalked through the huge wooden doors and walked into the foyer. I threw my jacket onto the table.

"Onii-chan! You're back!" Aoi ran from the kitchen—Youichi trailing behind. "Huh, Onii-chan, you're all dirty? What's wrong?"

She walked more into the foyer—everyone leaned against the wall as Aoi's grin cleared from her face she looked at us confused.

"Why you guys so depressed?" Youichi asked. His expression confused as well.

"Something happened…" Ruka whispered barely audible.

"What…" Aoi began. She looked at all of us.

"Koizumi attack," Imai bluntly said.

Youichi and Aoi's eyes widened. They shared a look with each other—then their attention quickly went back to us.

"What!" Youichi shouted. "There's no way they could've broken through the wall. It's protected by guards, a barrier and let's not forget how big it is!"

"Where…where's Mikan?" Aoi asked slowly.

I clenched my teeth and my hands fisted together tightly. A dead silence filled the air around us—Aoi gasped. I looked up at the ceiling—I knew what was coming.

"Mikan… she's," Aoi covered her mouth with her hand. Tears brimming her eyes—Youichi pulled her towards him silently.

"The Koizumi got her," Misaki bit her lip—staring at her shoes.

"They took her back to her Kingdom. Luna wants her," I growled "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Throne room…" she whispered. I headed down the long hall towards the two cherry wood doors that would lead into the Throne room. The guard announced me going in.

I stalked into the room and gave a curt nod to the guard. Closing the distance between us—I walked on the smooth stone floor towards the two golden chairs my parents sat on, animatedly talking to dressmakers.

I stood behind the dressmakers, tapping my foot impatiently; I glared at the two men. They gave me a strange look and went back to talking with my parents. I heard the door close again and my friends hurried footsteps echoed around the empty room—coming to stand beside me.

"Hun, can this wai—"

"No," I hissed. My mom blinked at me and shushed the two dressmakers away. I waited until they were outside again and silence engulfed the huge marble room.

"Natsume, that was extremely rude," she huffed. I rolled my eyes at her.

"There was a Koizumi attack," I bluntly said. Dad leaned forward in his chair, looking us all over—silently inspecting us.

"What?" she whispered.

"A Koiz—"

"Yes, yes, I heard you," she waved her hands cutting me off.

"They got Mikan,"

Everything in the room stopped. The guards all turned there attention towards us, my mom and dad sat unmoving. I ran a hand impatiently through my tangled hair.

"Mochi! Summon the rest of the army and have them come to the Throne room—ASAP," my dad ordered in his "king tone".

I sighed with relief. Everyone started zooming around me—they were changing the Throne room into a battle room. Weapons lay untouched on tables and armor beside that. In front of my folks sat a huge table, a map in front of us.

Mochi—the guy in charge of the Hyuuga army, and the corneal—stood pointing to different points on the map. We were looking at the Sakura Kingdom map to be exact. I drummed my fingers on my leg as battle plans filled the room. The once empty room started to crowd with the 1,000 of people in our army. Anticipation hummed through me.

"When are we going?" I asked.

"A couple days," Mochi replied.

"What! Who knows what could happen to her by then! Why aren't we leaving tonight?" I asked exasperated.

"We need more numbers, there's no way we can storm the Koizumi's in the Sakura Kingdom. Who knows how many are there now," Mochi scratched his buzz cut head.

"We have the Nogi and Andou army arriving tonight, that'll get our numbers up to 3,000+" Koko stated. He had changed from his simple outdoor outfit to his crisp black shirt and the army pants. I sighed, nobody would know if she was being tortured right now. How are we supposed to know if she's fine… my thoughts drifted off.

"I'm such an idiot!" I hissed to myself. I searched through my bond for Mikan—she was faintly there and I focused in on her more.

_Natsume?_

_Mikan?_

I almost—_almost_—felt like crying with relief—even though it hasn't been that long since I've talked to her. I sank in my chair and everyone looked at me.

"Hyuuga?" I looked up at the ice queen. She gave me a look that clearly read, 'do you have contact with her'? I nodded.

_Natsume! Can you hear me?_

_Mikan…! Mikan! _

My head went silent again and I closed my eyes tightly—trying to stop the noise around me from distracting me further.

_MIKAN!_

The noise was getting on my nerves—so I did what any extremely annoyed person would…

"SHUT UP!" I yelled at them. I eyed everyone dangerously and shut my eyes again. Hotaru whispered to the rest of my friends and my parents that Mikan and I were bond so we had communication now matter what.

_Na-Natsume? Is everyone okay?_

_Yeah, we're all fine. The army arrived right after… right after they took you. _I felt myself thinking extremely bitter thoughts.

_I… they took me back home. Jii-chan, he says to tell you not to take the deal that Luna will make with your family no matter what. She's planning on taking your kingdom regardless… we need to put a stop to her._

_Ah, don't worry. I already told my parents and everyone in the kingdom has been notified of what happened. We're making battle strategies as we speak. We'll be there to get you in a day or two tops… I wanted to leave straight away, but everyone thinks its best to get the army from Ruka, and Tsubasa's Kingdom's. They'll arrive tonight shortly after they get all their Alice equipment._

The room was so silent I thought everyone left so I opened my eyes to check—only to see everyone still here and staring at me intently. I raised an eyebrow at them—clearing my throat, I closed my eyes again.

_Natsume… I have to go now. Jii-chan told me not to contact you until I was alone again. I'm at the Palace now… if anything happens—I love you._

I froze. She can't just leave again! I need to keep talking to her—to hear her voice.

_Wait! Mikan, don't—_

_Natsume! I have to, to make sure she doesn't find out about my Alice's._

I don't want to stop talking to her—who knows the next time I'll be able to talk to her again. What if they hurt her? Hurt her worse then they did back at that small cabin in the woods?

_I'll be with Jii-chan and Lucy; I'm going to be okay._

I knew I wouldn't be able to talk her out of it. I stood up from my chair and leaned down against the table rubbing my temples.

_Ugh, Okay. Don't kill yourself please… I love you._

I looked up at my friends. They watched me expectantly.

"She had to go, they arrived at the Palace," I told them.

"What did she say?" Tsubasa asked.

"Ah… Don't take any deals that Luna gives us if she contacts the Hyuuga Kingdom. She's planning on taking the Hyuuga Kingdom next, so I suggest we ignore all forms of contact by her" I muttered sinking back down in my chair. It was like I pressed some kind of 'play' button when I sat down. Everyone unfroze from where they were standing and continued sharpening weapons and fixing armor down to size.

Imai walked up to Mochi and told him something. I raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone! You don't need those armor or weapons!" Mochi yelled down at his soldiers, "Hotaru-hime has made something for everyone,"

The ice queen grabbed her bag out and held up a male and female black shirt and camo pants. I eyed the clothing—looks pretty thin to me.

"Advanced army clothing. Hard as the strongest metal, anti-flammable, absorbent—but not in a bad way," she tossed Koko the male set. "And finally, it's as light as a feather,"

"Now these," she held up the necklaces, stickers and pens that we had gotten from her the other day. "These are Alice items,"

She demonstrated what each of them could do and set them in a basket on the table behind her. When she turned around she held a bracelet in her hand.

"These are special bracelets. Invisibility cloaks—place it on your wrist and press on the stone. It'll send a needle into your arm that'll make you invisible to other people—except for people also wearing the bracelet," she activated her own bracelet to demonstrate.

"This works best with the pendant to hide your presence," she said reappearing. She handed the huge pile of clothes and basket of inventions to Mochi.

"Everyone line up to get your new uniform!" he yelled. Two giant lines of male and female wrapped around the room.

Cool fabric was thrust into my face—blocking my vision. I grabbed it off my face and stared down at a set of the new army clothing. Looking up I saw Imai handing a uniform to everyone else.

"I'm guessing your not staying here while we all go and rescue that Baka?" she asked.

"No way in heck," I said.

She smirked, "That's what I thought"

I grabbed the 'hiding your presence' pendant and the amplifier sticker. I slipped the necklace on and put the sticker behind my ear. Before I forgot, I pressed the end of my transmitter earring—testing to see if it worked. A series of voices rang in my ear and I took that as a yes. I shut it off and returned back to reality.

"Yo, Tsubasa!" Koko ran up to us. He had changed into the new uniform and was fully equipped with all of Imai's inventions. In his hand was the small black pen.

"Let's go teach you to sword fight like a pro, hmm?" he grinned. Tsubasa fished his pen from his pocket and followed Koko out of the Throne room.

I cracked my knuckles and headed to the practice room after them to practice my one on one fighting skill. It couldn't hurt to have a bit of fun before I went to basically participate in a war against the Koizumi—right?

*Mikan's POV*

The perverted Koizumi with the missing teeth grabbed my arm thrusting me out to the ground beside him. He looked to be about 21—doesn't he know it's nice to be gentle to a girl? I raised my head at welcoming committee we had. I stared straight past the guards to the girl standing in all red. She looked to be about 20. Her strawberry blonde hair was silky straight flowing down to her back; she brushed her hair away from her face and gave me a small smile. Bright azure eyes scanned me—I fidgeted.

"It's so nice to meet you in person," she said—her voice sickly sweet. "Mikan-_hime_"

She walked towards me and brushed hair from my face. I moved my head slightly back—avoiding her cold touch. She cocked her head to the side and moved back a couple steps. Her tight form fitting red dress shifted around her and she fixed her strap—instantly pushing her cleavage up, making it _much_ more visible.

I mentally gagged.

"Aki, put her with the others for now," she pursed her lips—the beauty mark in the corner of her mouth becoming more noticeable. The creep beside me nodded.

"Right away, Miss Luna," he pulled me along with him, heading down the halls of the Palace—MY home. The whole place looked a lot darker then it used to. The walls looked like a grey fog had been put up—covering the bright paint that once was underneath. Speaking of that, everything looked like it hasn't been touched in _forever_. There was dust covering mostly everything, except the floor.

The pervert stopped and I turned my head nervously to look at his calculating stare. His face was smug—I backed up a step very slowly.

His dark brown eyes locked with mine and I gulped—stopping me from backing away any further.

"Where do you think you're going, little princess?" he grabbed my arm roughly and jerked me to him. The creep—his name was Aki, I think? Wrapped his other hand firmly around me. I was pressed against his body tightly, and I froze in his arms.

"You know," he held me in place tightly against his body, but some how still managing to pull his head back to tower over my face. He stared straight into my eyes.

"I can be very convincing…" he whispered huskily—while leaning closer to my face.

My eyes widened. What the heck! What did he just say? I squirmed in his grip, only to be squeezed tighter against him. I glared at him.

"I have the Alice of Persuade," he continued "I can say anything to you, and you'll have no choice but to do it"

His nose was pressed up against mine. My heart rate increased and I started to panic. What was he going to do to me?

He squeezed me again, while rubbing his fingers on my back. I shivered in disgust.

"What, you don't like that," his breath was warm against my face. "Then what about I—"

"Aki!"

The said man looked up and I stared over at another Koizumi standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He had short dark purple hair; his bangs hid his eyes.

"Get lost, Shin!" his hand roamed around my back again—and I pushed against his chest trying to get out of his grip.

"Aki! You know what Luna will do if you don't do what she asked of you!" Shin said. He walked over and took me from Aki's grip.

"Come on man! Just one bite…" Aki said. I shivered with disgust and leaned away from him.

"No, I'm taking her to the dungeon. Go to the equipment room, they need help," Shin growled.

Aki snarled and started heading down the other direction. Once he was gone Shin relaxed.

"Frickin' idiot," he muttered. He lightly grabbed my wrist and started pulling me towards the door that would lead to the dungeon.

We walked in silence and I annualized his appearance. His hair was out of his face, and I saw he had bright green eyes. He was slightly muscular and was about 5"7 feet tall. I snapped back into reality as the door to the dungeon entrance opened.

We walked down the dimly lit stairs and after a couple minutes we finally reached the cool floor off the dungeon. He lead me through the hall of the cells filled with all the village people. I stared at them wide-eyed and they reflected my shocked expression back at me. We only had 50 cells down here and it looked like each was filled with 5 or more people…

From the looks of it—a lot of lives were lost. My throat closed up again, but I shook it off. Well barely…

"Mikan-hime's here!" they whispered in hushed tones. Shin slightly pushed me along and I walked on.

We reached a cell only occupied by 2 people. He unlocked the door and I stared at the floor as he pushed me lightly in.

"No need to thank me…" he whispered in my ear before locking the door behind me. I looked at him confused—he pointed behind me and I looked back.

I gasped and my throat began to burn from the on coming tears. I gave Shin a quick nod as he left and walked towards the two sleeping figures.

"Jii-chan… Lucy," I whispered. They stirred in their sleep and slowly began waking up.

Their gazes landed on me and they stared at me—still sleeping. I smiled past the tears that were falling from my cheeks.

"Jii-chan! Lucy! It's me," I said. Their eyes opened fully and I was tackled into huge hugs.

"Oh, Mi-chan…" they whispered in my hair. They pulled back and I looked at their appearances. Both of them had lost weight—they looked like pencils.

I grimaced at the bones sticking out.

"You two don't look that well," I muttered.

"We're fine, absolutely fine," Lucy brushed it off. "So they me all about this Natsume now, we mustn't always be sad"

I blushed and began telling her all about my adventure in the forest and how Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume had found me. I left out the parts about the Polka and the kissing and… well that kind of stuff. Then how the Koizumi had captured me once but they all saved me—then we went back to the Hyuuga Kingdom.

"And apparently, we knew each other when we were just kids too! But we both lost our memory," I whispered.

"Whoa!" Lucy sang, "That's the most thrilling story I've heard in a long time,"

I giggled at her.

"Yeah, maybe" I said. I grabbed them both into a tight hug again.

"Mi-chan?"

"Just want to hug you two again…" I muttered—blinking back the tears that threatened to start falling again.

We stayed like that for a while—just hugging until I finally let the day come to me. I laid my head on Lucy's lap and fell asleep.

_Natsume… _My dreamy self thought.

*Natsume's POV*

I sent a whirlwind of fire towards the grass dummy. It burnt down in seconds.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and headed over to the benches to grab a drink.

"Tsubasa! Quicken your reflexes or else you'll be killed!" Koko yelled.

"Trying!" Tsubasa muttered through gritted teeth. I watched in amusement as Koko raised his sword up and started swinging. Tsubasa raised his sword up and blocked each hit.

"You improving," Koko said—pushing against Tsubasa's sword. Tsubasa grinned and stopped pushing as hard against Koko.

"Than—" Koko twirled his sword in his grip, knocking Tsubasa's sword to the ground—his sword poking Tsubasa's neck.

"Never let your opponent distract you!" Koko handed Tsubasa back his sword. They continued fighting for about half an hour.

"I guess you're a fast learner, huh?" Koko gritted. Tsubasa twirled his sword in an attempt to get to Koko. But Koko quickly jumped back and raised his sword to defend himself.

Tsubasa grinned and ran towards Koko. He lifted his sword as if to move to the right and Koko raised his sword to block. But at the last second Tsubasa twirled his sword to the left and stopped before he sliced Koko's arm.

Koko grinned. "That's it man! You got it,"

Koko looked over at me. I sensed something bad so I started backing away. Koko was one of my old friends—along with Ruka.

"Natsume! Come here,"

I groaned and turned around. Walking over to them I grabbed the sword he threw at me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fight with Tsubasa," he grinned. I lazily looked at Tsubasa, his eyes widened.

"Wha—" Tsubasa began.

"What, scarred Shadow?" I teased him with his old nickname.

He stood up straight. "No, bring it on!"

I raised my sword in defensive position, as did Tsubasa.

"The let's go," I smirked. I ran at Tsubasa, he jumped to the side and came up behind me.

I kicked out his feet with my own and he fell to the ground. I lifted my sword to 'tag' him—but Tsubasa rolled to the left quickly and jumped to his feet.

I narrowed my eyes waiting for an opening. I faked moving to my left; he reacted and jumped the other way. Just as my sword was coming at him he saw it and jumped back.

We continued to fight for the rest of the night until we fell down to the ground—dead tired.

"I think that was a tie?" Tsubasa panted.

"Yeah," I breathed. I looked over at him and grinned.

"Let's go back in. The other arm should be here by now," I grabbed his out stretched hand and we walked back to the Palace.

One day down. Tomorrow we would get ready to storm the Sakura Kingdom free of any Koizumi, and work to get Mikan back.

_Mikan, wait for me._

* * *

**Oki Doki, I hope you liked this chapter~ :D**

**Remember to review, please and thank you ^.^**

**Thank you's too;**

**bunnyjumps- Thank you for your review :D Haha, yea that 'boom' kind of gave it away :P**

**Kylee-Cat- I know eh? But it wouldn't be fun if she was always safe :P**

**GAKUENALICERCKS- Ah, I'm sorry~ I had to do it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello guys, sorry for the late update**

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 20:**

* * *

_*Natsume's POV*_

_The dimly lit room flickered around me as the scene changed again to the other realm. I waited for the witch to appear in front of me—just as she does in every other dream. I scanned the room—noticing that there were no doors in this room, and candles were the only light source. Which meant there was fire in here… fire that I could control. I smirked._

**Natsume~ I don't think we have time to just stand around, now do we?**

_I turned around sharply—I hadn't realized the witch had entered in the room yet. Bad move; it could've killed me. But then it would be breaking the deal… the witch said it never breaks deals._

_I stood my guard and stared down the despicable monster in front of me. It started laughing—poisoning my ears with the annoying noise._

"_Shut up, and fight me!" I snarled. The witch stopped and stared at me—it's face turning serious._

**Then let's hurry up and do this.**

"_That's more like it," I hissed. _

I snapped my eyes open and stared at the ceiling. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I turned my head to look at the clock.

7:30 AM

I closed my eyes and exhaled loudly. Muttering something that didn't even make sense, I flipped myself off the bed. Lazily, I made my way to the bathroom, did a quick bathroom routine and headed to my closest.

"Where did I put those inventions…"

I saw the shinny objects on my dresser and quickly pulled them on.

_Knock, knock._

The door creaked open and I listened as a pair of footsteps walked in the room. I pulled the black army shirt over my head and walked out to see who it was.

"Oh, hey Ruka. What's up?" I asked raising an eyebrow at my bestfriend. He was wearing all of his fiancée's new inventions and the set of Alice Army clothing that I was wearing.

"Um, everyone is in the Throne room. We're about to go over the plan," He ran a hand threw his blonde hair, "They want to make sure everyone is ready and knows what they should be doing"

"Okay, let's go down then," I followed him to the door—grabbing Mikan's Alice stone and tying the necklace around my neck.

*Time Skip*

"Ok people, quiet down!" Mochi yelled to everyone. The room filled into silence—the Nogi and Tsubasa army had just received Imai's inventions and it had gotten quiet loud in here. I looked around from where I was leaning against the wall—the actual soldiers were standing closest to the make shift stage we had made in the Throne room. Listening to Colonel as he gave out instructions.

"…Nogi army, I want you to separate yourselves into two groups. One group will be in charge of searching the village for any stray Koizumi in the area. The second I want you to get yourselves positioned around the Palace at all possible entryways," Mochi ordered. He pointed to the areas around the Palace—I rubbed a spot on my neck, working out the kink that started to form.

"What are we suppose to do?" Ruka whispered to me. I looked over at him and shrugged.

"Our young princes and princesses will be joining us as well," The colonel acknowledged. "I want Ruka-ouji, Natsume-ouji, and Tsubasa-ouji to stay with Koko and his partner Kitsuneme. Do not separate until the you get the OK, from me or Koko"

I looked over at the grinning Koko and Kitsuneme—Kitsuneme looks like he could be Koko's brother; they both have the same dirty blonde hair and goofy personality. Except Kitsuneme's eyes always appear to be closed so you can't really see his eyes. That would be the only difference between the two.

"Hey, guys!" Koko jogged over to us, Kitsuneme following closely behind. The two of them together were absolutely deadly in their fighting skills. Anyone that knows them around here, know not to try and pick a fight.

"Hotaru-hime, Misaki-hime. I want you two to stay with me," Mochi said. Aoi popped her head up and waved her hand around like a maniac—trying to gain Mochi's attention. The Colonel looked down at her.

"Aoi-hime?" he asked.

"What about me?" the young girl asked.

"I have strict orders from your Mother to not allow you to leave the Palace. Your job is to stay in contact with the princesses and princes at all times,"

I sighed in relief. If someone didn't stop her from going—I would have had to do it myself, and when Aoi wants something she can be quite the hand full.

"Fine," Aoi pouted.

"Now, back to the plan," Mochi projected the map onto a giant screen—turning off the lights at the same time. The room was engulfed back into silence as the Colonel went on with the plan.

"There are 7 different entry points to the Palace, including a separate on that leads down underneath the Palace," He grabbed a red light and pointed out the 7 different entries. "The first two are the main entryways at the front of the Palace. The next is just on the opposite side of the main doors continuing along the driveway—which leads to the gatehouse where all transportation devices are kept. I want 2 teams of 20 at these two doors,"

"There are two more doors on the right side of the Palace. One leading to the servants quarters, and the other to the kitchen. Two more teams of 40 here, I want you to check each room of the servants quarters and make sure that no one is in there. Then join the other group and make your way through the Palace," he continued. "The last two doors…"

He scanned the room narrowing his eyes. "Misaki-hime,"

Misaki looked up at Mochi. "Yes?"

"I want Hotaru-hime and you to take this entry along with me. There will be two other soldiers accompanying us. I want your team to check the door at the back—which leads to the ballroom. Make sure you know the layout of the Palace before entering. Study it as soon as this meeting ends, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Misaki called.

"Good," Mochi turned back to the map. "I want another team of 70, to go through the door located to the left of the Palace. This door leads to the weaponry and where the Guardians of the Sakura's stayed, watch out for any lurking Koizumi,"

"Now… there's another hidden door leading under the Palace, which is located here," he pointed to a hill directly beside the Palace. "This is where the Temple of Queen Yuka and King Izumi were buried, behind the temple hidden by the trees is a small wooden door in the side of the hill. There's a secret tunnel there that will lead you to directly to about 3 other tunnels. We don't have enough information as to where they each lead, so the team that goes down there will need to split up,"

"Koko!" The Colonel yelled.

Koko straightened up and saluted the Colonel. "Yes sir?"

"I want you're team to go there. Make sure that you each are carrying weapons, and the other necessities,"

"Yes sir! I'll make sure to pack everything before hand!" Koko saluted again.

"That's what I hope for, I understand that Tsubasa-Ouji has been successfully trained in using his sword?" Mochi asked.

I snorted thinking about how bad Koko had beat him for about an hour until Shadow finally turned the tables around. He even was able to match my skills—and I had been trained since I was a little kid. Just because my dad thought it would be for the best.

I watched Tsubasa's expression as he started grinning like an idiot. Koko put his arm around Tsubasa's shoulder—his trademark grin plastered on his face.

"Yes sir, he has learned basically everything I had to offer. He was able to fight against both Natsume and I," Koko said.

"Is that true, Natsume-ouji?"

I looked up at the colonel. "Yup,"

"Good, I'm guessing there will be no more need to learn how to fight then,"

Tsubasa was a fast learner if I do say so myself—which was very surprising. Ruka and I on the other hand, had been trained since we were little, in both martial arts, karate, Tai Chi, self-defense… there's more, but I don't really feel like listing all the different training we had to do as kids. Then there's learning how to use weapons, like swords—and Alice training of course.

That was what every soldier of the different kingdoms had to be trained in. Or well, most of them. They had to be able to protect people in any kind of situation. With or without using an Alice.

"I want everyone else to be searching the roads leading to the Sakura kingdom, the forest, village; all of it. Once the whole area was searched quickly return to the Palace," Mochi turned the lights back on. "But I want 1,000 of you to be standing behind the people first entering the Palace—separating yourselves like the other smaller teams and go inside 5 minutes after they enter."

"That's all, make sure you practice and get used to the new weapons," the colonel said.

*Mikan's POV*

I was grabbed roughly by my arm and hoisted up from where I had been sleeping. I blinked away my sleepiness as I was dragged from my cell towards the door leading back up to the Palace. Confusion swept through me and I looked around at the sleeping figures of everyone else in their cells.

"Where are we going?" I asked the dark figure of the person dragging me. His grip tightened on my arm and I bit my lip.

"Shh," he whispered over his shoulder. I caught a glimpse of his green eyes and purple hair.

Shin…? I shook my head trying to get rid of my daze—rubbing my eyes with my free hand. He continued to lead me through the dungeon, until we finally reached the door leading to the abandoned first floor of the Palace.

I closed my eyes as the bright light bounced off my hazel orbs.

"Aki was suppose to bring you up but I didn't trust him enough to come get you—especially after yesterday," Shin grumbled. I blinked twice and stared blankly at the boy in front of me.

Isn't he a bad guy…?

"Umm, why aren't you, you know… treating me like trash?" I asked suddenly. Shin looked taken back by my question, he stared at me with his bright green eyes.

"I'm… not sure. I just don't think its right to treat people like that when they haven't done anything to me," he muttered running a hand through his hair. He crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for my reply.

_Huh? Isn't this guy a Koizumi, he's suppose to treat me badly… isn't he?_

"Aren't you suppose to treat me badly?" I asked voicing my thoughts.

He started down the hall towards the Throne room—motioning for me to hurry up and follow him. Knowing I wouldn't be able to escape anyway, I followed. He never answered my question though.

He stopped outside the door leading to the Throne room and I fidgeted under his blank stare.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked. I was suddenly feeling nervous.

"I'm sorry I have to do this," he whispered in my ear as he walked past me; opening the door. He grabbed my arm once again—leading me into the Throne room. I stared at Luna standing by the huge windows. She seemed to be staring at nothing in particular outside, so I took this time to look at her appearance.

She was wearing a tight black blouse with the top 3 buttons undone, showing more then needed of her chest; and a loose brown skirt reaching about two inches above her knees. I frowned at how much skin she was revealing.

"Miss Luna," Shin called out.

Luna turned around and gazed at us. "Bring her closer, Shin"

We walked towards her, so I was standing about 3 feet away from her. She was standing much taller then me because of her thick black high heels. They clacked against the stone floor as she stood directly in front of me.

I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything.

"Hello, Mikan dear. How was your first night here?" she asked me. I gulped was there a wrong answer? I sure hope not.

"Fi-fine," I said.

"That's good," she smiled.

She brushed her hair past her shoulder and walked back to the Throne. Sitting down, she pulled out a lipstick and started touching up her makeup. That's when I noticed her lipstick was smeared around her mouth.

Someone coughed to the left of me—I turned and saw Aki, he stood leaning against the wall smiling deviously at me, I was surprised to see that his teeth were all there. But I was more surprised to see a hint of red at the corners of his mouth and a kiss mark on his neck—Eww.

"I see you finally got your teeth replaced again," Shin muttered.

"Miss Luna, gave me what I needed," he stated; His smile stayed in place. The word 'Ew' kept running around my head. Sounded a bit like this; Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew—

"I see," Shin said. He raised an eyebrow at Aki but didn't question Luna.

"Yes, It was quite delightful," Aki continued. I mentally gagged.

"Mikan dear, come here," I looked over at Shin and he lightly pushed me towards her. I stopped when I stood in front of her.

"Boys, please leave us alone now," Luna ordered. Aki winked at me before he slipped into the hall.

"That Aki is such a troublesome guy," Luna huffed as she started brushing her hair up into an elegant bun. I stood there not quite sure what to do.

"Now tell me, Mikan. What do you think you're here for?" She asked me setting her makeup kit on a table beside her.

"I-I'm not re-really sure…" I stammered. Wasn't this lady some really evil person? Why was she so calm and collected, and acting so sweet? Although she did seem like she was faking and the clothes she wore didn't really help with my opinion of her.

"Well," she grinned leaning towards me. "I need your help, that's why!"

I stared at her blankly.

"With what?" I asked carefully.

"With ruling all the other kingdom's of course!" She giggled. I watched in shock as she jumped from her seat and skipped back over to the windows. Her azure eyes twinkled with excitement.

I followed behind her slowly—making sure I was at least 1 meter away from her.

"We would make the perfect team together!" she continued, "Once we get rid of all the ruling King's and Queens, it'll be as easy as that," she snapped her fingers.

"Wait… what?" I whispered.

"Yes, yes. Mikan _Koizumi_, that sounds wonderful! I can picture it now,"

"_Koizumi,_" I said horrified. Luna still didn't hear me.

"Just picture it," she lifted her arms out as she stared down at the burnt village, "We could even rule the world!"

She started laughing—and it sent chills up my spine. I wasn't the happy-go-lucky kind of laugh it was the 'I'm a messed up person, because I want to rule the world' kind of laugh.

Wait… did she say 'we' can rule the world?

"I don't want to," I whispered.

"It'll be just so wonderful, everyone obeying my every command—"

"I don't want to!" I yelled.

She turned around and stared at me. Her face frozen in a creepy smile—her azure eyes narrowed.

"What did you say?" she asked calmly.

My face flushed and I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"I don't want to," I said.

Her smile faltered, but she quickly put it back in place. She moved towards me; stopping just inches from touching me.

"What ever do you mean, dear?" she asked.

"I don't want to," I muttered, "rule all the kingdom's"

Luna's smile changed into a grim line. I fidgeted on the spot, not knowing what to say know. She was the person who had my parent's killed. There was no way I was going to work with her to _kill _more people.

"I was afraid you'd say that," she began. She headed back to the Throne and took a seat—studying me where I still stood by the window, completely unmoving.

"So, I guess we'll just have to negotiate with each other. Now won't we?"

"What…?" I asked.

"Shin!" she yelled in a scary voice. I shuddered and started backing away further from her. He entered the room shortly after and gave me a look of pity. I mentally raised an eyebrow- what does he know that I don't?

"You called, Miss Luna?" Shin asked.

"Yes," Luna crossed and uncrossed her legs repeatedly. "Take her _there_, she doesn't seem to like my partnership I'm offering"

"Ye-yes Miss Luna, I'll take her right away," he strode towards me and grabbed my wrist. We were just about to leave when her voice echoed down the hall towards us.

"Oh, and do make sure that you take her through the long way,"

Shin stiffened—he turned around and gave a curt nod to Luna. Then we left the room and headed briskly to the door leading to the outside.

He pulled along with him to the direction of the temple of my parents and I grew tense. When we finally reached the temple, I had grown so stiff that to Shin it probably felt like he was dragging a statue.

He stopped and looked at me—but my gaze was glued to the door of the temple, which lay slightly ajar. My mouth dried up completely and I was growing more anxious by the minute.

"What did you guys do to the temple…" I croaked.

Shin followed my gaze and stared at the temple door. We stood there for about 10 minutes—thunderclouds above us started booming, and seconds later we were drenched in water.

I blinked the mix of tears and rain from my eyes.

"What?" I asked louder this time.

"Nothing," he said, "We never touched it"

His grip had loosened on my arm and I pulled free of him. I sprinted towards the temple door fast as lightning before Shin could even blink. Heaving myself against the door, I began to push the heavy door open. Just when I was starting to get the door to move, I was peeled away from it with strong arms and pushed against the wall.

I squeaked and looked into the green eyes of Shin.

"Let me go!" I shouted.

"No," he said. His body was pressed up against me, leaving no chance for escape.

"Let me _go_," I growled—throwing my fists against his chest. The rain had soaked us both completely and I fought against a sneeze that was building up.

"No!"

"Let, me… go!" I clenched my teeth. "Shin! Let me go, I want to see my parents!"

"_Mikan_, I can't!" he shouted at me.

"Please," I whispered—tears started sliding down my cheeks again.

"I can—"

"_Please_," I said looking at him. He hesitated for a moment, the pressure of him pushing me into the wall gradually started to fade away—and finally there was space between us. I stared at him shocked.

"Go," he looked away "before I change my mind"

I gasped and ran towards the temple door—squeezing into the space of the open door; I slipped into the dark, dry temple. I waited for my eyes to adjust before I walked towards the wilted flowers that lay over their graves. Kneeling down in front of the roses, I closed my eyes and started to pray to myself. When I finished, I kissed the cool rough stone.

Reluctantly, I got up and slowly made my way back to the door. I grabbed the leather handle and pulled the heavy stone along with me as I walked back into the cold rain. The door shut with a firm thud and I dropped the leather handle. Shin was leaning against the stone wall with his eyes closed. He seemed to be in deep thought.

I hesitantly approached him and waited for him to open his eyes. After awhile he didn't seem to notice my presence so I clasped my hands together thoughtfully.

"Thank you…" I whispered.

He slowly opened his green eyes and stared at me still in deep thought. I gnawed my lip and waited for him to start dragging me away.

"Why didn't you run back into the forest?" he asked me suddenly.

I blinked. My face twisted as I thought of how stupid I was, I could've had a head start into the forest! I've done it before and I could've easily followed my bond with Natsume to the Hyuuga kingdom. But why didn't I? The thought didn't even cross my mind—and now I'll probably be tortured into joining forces with Luna. Craaaaaap, I thought.

Shin looked at me grimly—probably thinking that I realized what he meant. Even his reaction to when I first left the temple he didn't even acknowledge that I had came out—for all I know he was giving me a chance to escape. Shin didn't even seem like he was a bad guy at all.

"I don't know," I murmured.

He sighed and lifted his face towards the sky.

"Baka…" he whispered, "Let's get going, you're going to get sick if we stay our here any longer,"

He lightly grabbed my wrist and we made our way slowly past the temple to the back of the hill. Where were we going? I don't remember there being anything down here.

We walked down the hill—and Shin stopped in front of an over grown bush. Pushing it aside, a small wooden door came into view. I gasped. What is this?

"I'm guessing you never knew about this?" he asked.

I nodded.

"You don't want to, and you should never have had to see something like this," he said as he opened the door. My stomach twisted with the thought of what may be done there. He motioned for me to step inside and I turned around, slipping one leg in at a time before I dropped down to the floor below. I moved away, feeling my way towards the wall when Shin jumped down beside me.

"Hold on a second," he muttered. A 'whoosh' blew my hair and Shin held up a torch.

He started down the dirt tunnel and I had no choice but to follow. We followed about 3 different tunnels as we headed along the path—finally, an old wooden door came into view and a twist of agony ran through my stomach. I gagged at the smell and turned around.

When I started coughing up everything I had ate this morning; I crouched down, leaning against the dirt wall. I finished throwing up seconds later and I wiped my mouth off. My clothes were uncomfortably wet against my skin.

I stood up and looked at Shin—who was looking at me with… concern. Shaking it off, I let him lead me closer to the door. The smell almost knocking me out again.

"What the heck is that smell," I asked covering my nose.

Shin didn't say anything; his mouth was a grim line. I watched him with curiosity as he stopped looking for the key and turned to look at me.

His mouth opened as if to say something—but he closed it right away.

"…What is it?" I asked hesitantly.

"…Rotting corpses," he whispered. His face was sickly pale in the light the torch was giving off.

I froze and fought the gagging that threatened to cause me to start dry heaving. He set the torch in an iron holder outside the door that I hadn't noticed before.

"I'll clean it up first, okay?" he said kneeling down beside me.

I nodded my head while covering my mouth. His footsteps faded away as he headed back towards the door. I listened as the clanking of the metals keys as they touched each other. Then finally, the door creaked open. I could feel the smell drifting towards me—so I automatically held my breath. When the door clicked shut, I gasped for air.

I closed my eyes as I waited for him to return again.

After about 5 minutes the door squeaked open. I opened my eyes and watched him as he sank against the wall—he looked over at me.

"Does it smell still?" he asked.

I sniffed the air—it actually smelt…good. At least now it did. Grinning, I nodded my head. He sighed and pulled himself back to his feet.

"Good, I had to use my Alice to clean the place…" he motioned for me to come into the room. I got up slowly and headed towards the open door.

Inside was a big circular room with doors on each side. Hundreds of flickering candles sat on along crevices in the wall, casting an eerie glow around the room. I stepped inside and looked down at the brown tiled floor.

"What's your Alice?" I asked staring at the clean room. I walked up to one of the doors and tried pushing it open—but it wouldn't budge. Giving up, I left the door alone and walked over to a blanket that lay on the ground.

"Disintegration and wind," he muttered from beside me.

"Really?" I asked turning to face him. He nodded.

"That's cool," I said.

"I guess,"

He tossed a bundle of something at my face, I grabbed it and looked at it. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Dry clothes," he stated. I grinned at him.

"Thank you, Shin!"

"Yeah, no problem," he turned to leave "I'll come back when ever I can. You should try to get some rest and change before you get sick. I'll bring supper for you in a couple hours,"

"Okay," I smiled at him. He walked out of the room and looked at me for a second before he shut the door—I heard the lock click into place and I sunk down against the wall.

I waited for awhile just to make sure he was gone, then I peeled off the wet clothes and threw them in the corner away from me. I pulled on the new clothes—there was a simple pair of grey sweat pants and a baggy red T-shirt. I put them on—noticing that they were to big for me. They must belong to a boy…

Wrapping myself in the blanket, I laid down against the cool floor. I grabbed hold of my pendant and let myself start to drift off.

_Natsume… _I muttered in my mind before I completely fell asleep.

* * *

**Chapter 20 is done. Hope you liked it ^.^**

**Remember to Review, please and thank you**

**Thank you's too;**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Ok, lets see- I'll do this in order xD.**** Sorry, for the late update :/ Ummm, I'm thinking maybe around 10 chapters left, because I want it to be 30ish chapters long(?) I plan to write a lot of other stories after this (already have about 5 story ideas) There not going to be exactly like this one. They will mostly all be supernatural/romance, & NxM of course ;). Theres only one story idea so far that has Mikan being a princess again. Soo, there not going to be like this one per say. When I get closer to finishing Learning to Survive, I'll update my profile and show all the summary's of the differennt stories I will be writing in the future ^.^ **


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys, sorry this is a short chapter :/**

**I won't be able to update for the next couple days. but anyways...**

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 21:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

I woke up with my cheek pressed against the cold tile floor, with a line of drool running from the corner of my mouth. Sitting up, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand—and continued to wipe the sleep from my eyes. The room appeared exactly the same as when I had first fallen asleep—hundreds of candles being the only source of warmth and light. Locked doors everywhere, and the same old, scratchy blanket that I had wrapped around me.

"Ugh," I groaned. A major headache was beginning to form just behind my eyes.

"What time is it…?" I looked around the room—absolutely no windows; well, we were underground. So I had no way to tell what time it was. Shin did say that he would be back in a few hours to bring me supper… and as far as I can tell he hasn't came back yet. So that means I've probably slept for 1 or 2 hours?

A couple seconds later the door rattled open and Shin wiggled himself through, carrying a tray of more then likely food, a bag, and a backpack. The door shut with a loud thud, while I stared hungrily at the tray he held.

"How did you carry all that stuff with out spilling the food when you jumped down into the tunnel?" I asked as he set the tray of food in front of me. This was waaayy better then the dungeon food. I had eggs, soup, a sandwich, glass of water… my mouth watered. I haven't eaten food like this in what felt like an eternity—but in reality, it's only been like 2 days.

"Yummy," I mumbled as I started to dig in.

"Oh, Uhh," Shin sat down against the wall and started opening the bag and backpack.

"I used the entrance from the Palace to get here, instead of going the long way outside," he muttered. An object was thrown in my face—interrupting me from devouring any more of my food.

I glared at Shin when it fell away and dropped just an inch from the food.

"What was that for?" I pouted. I picked up the soft, squishy white pillow and stared at it in awe. A pillow! Yay, finally something I can rest my head on, instead of this hard ground.

"It's a pillow, and I thought it would be better then sleeping on this floor," he said—tossing me the backpack. Inside were; a big bottle of water, one other change of clothes, and a first aid (that didn't seem comforting—but then again I do have a healing Alice that they don't know about) and… a warmer blanket!

I squealed, "Yay, a warmer blanket!"

I held it up to my face and breathed in the familiar scent of the cotton. Shin coughed and I looked back to see him sitting impatiently. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

"We don't have much time to smell blankets right now," he said. He started pacing in front of me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Luna's coming here to try an persuade you into joining," he stopped in front of me and kneeled down in front of me, staring me down.

"Yeah… I figured it would go like that," I turned my head to the side and watched as he ran a hand through his purple hair roughly.

"No," he grabbed my shoulders "Luna, she has this split personality. One minute she's nice the next…"

He shook his head and stood up.

"She's what?" I asked, "…what's her other personality?"

He grabbed the backpack and started putting the items he just gave me back into the backpack. I watched as he cleaned the place up with his wind Alice and it looked as if I didn't just pig out on amazingly good food…

"She's a psychopath," he stated.

"Psy-psychopath?" I gulped.

My stomach flip flopped. I had a feeling that this was going to be waaayy more interesting then my encounter with Persona had been.

He set the bag behind the pillar that stuck out from the wall—the spot where I had fallen asleep, because it was closed in and gave me a sense of privacy. Shin walked back to the wooden door leading outside.

"Be strong," he whispered before leaving the room.

"What was that?" I muttered to myself staring at the closed door.

*Time Skip*

I lay on my new blanket for hours; waiting for Luna to show up so I could so how bad her wrath really was. Flipping onto my side I tried to contact Natsume while I was still alone.

_Natsume?_

I twiddled my fingers and started humming. It was like I didn't have reception to use my telepathy to contact him—pretty odd sounding. Sighing in frustration, I put my fingers on my temples and focused.

_Natsume? Hey, can you hear me?_

…_Mik—_

I sat up straight frowning, stupid 'no reception because of being underground, and too far away from Natsume, and most likely a little barrier from the Koizumi's' its cutting out me being able to talk to him. I wonder if it still works with Jii-chan…

_I can barely hear you; _His voice came though,

_Ah, I can hear you better now!_

I kicked my feet out in front of me—stretching my tired limbs.

_How are you? Have they done anything to you?_

_No, well… they put me in this underground tunnel thing, inside this weird room. Right now I'm waiting for Luna to show up and probably start the torturing…_

I said—well thought—'probably start the torturing' to him in a sarcastic tone. But really I was starting to shake inside—after what happened with Persona, I'm not so excited to see what the "psychopathic Luna" is going to do to me. Hopefully, it won't last that long and she'll give up after a couple tries.

…_What's the room like?_

_Umm, circular, lots and lots of candles, and a couple of locked doors._

I sensed the colorful words he was saying through our bond—and it must've been quite the reaction for me to be able to feel that…

_What's with the reaction?_

…_you heard that?_

_Well… not literally, But yeah._

I got up from my spot on the floor and started roaming around the room. Not really caring that I was pacing. Didn't I deserve to at least pace after all that's happened to me?

_Ok, this is going to sound crazy._

_I figured_

_Okay, I've been having these dreams… about you and this room. The same room you just described to me._

I stopped pacing. _That's creepy, what happened?_

_Well, I've always been running to that room through these tunnels. Then when I get there, I'm transported back to this other realm with this witch and it ends up being Lu—_

The lock of the wooden door started to turn and my heart stopped beating. I speed walked to the back wall, farthest away from the door and waited.

_Natsume, I can't talk anymore. Tell me later, okay?_

Not waiting for his answer I quickly 'closed' off the telepathy for a moment so who ever was coming in wouldn't find out about my Alice's. That would mean trouble.

The door clicked open and Luna walked graceously into the room—a smile on her face as she closed the door with her foot.

"Have you thought this over?" she asked.

"Yes, I think I have," I said.

*Natsume's POV*

_I stared around at the circular room. Same place again, huh? Each dream I get more and more information. But this seems different, this room is just well a room—it isn't the 'realm' I always seem to be in. I turned around expecting to see some kind of booby trap._

**Natsume,**

_I turned around slowly and stared at the witch in front of me. It slowly faded away and was replaced with the figure of a girl. She was tall—because of her heels. She had bright azure orbs and strawberry blonde hair, plus the revealing clothing—theirs no mistaking about who this is._

"_Luna," I hissed._

**Well I'm so glad we can finally meet like this.**

_Her lips didn't move as she spoke—but they tugged up into a flashy smile. I turned away in disgust._

_SLAP!_

_I looked back at her, my crimson eyes wide with shock._

"_What the he—"_

**Nobody, NOBODY, turns away from me!**

_She grinned down at my freaked out expression. Her hand stroked my cheek._

**Aw, Natsume. I'm not here to hurt you—at the moment.**

_She pouted like a 5 year old that got their candy taken away. I frowned and raised an eyebrow. So the witch was her, huh? Figures._

"_Hurt me?" I questioned._

**Oh yes, you see—I have a split personality!**

_She giggled; still not moving her lips. I waited for her to continue._

**And that side of me just loves to hurt things! But you see I'm here to make you a deal.**

"_What kind of deal?"_

**I didn't always have a split personality, a long time ago, I meant a famous Alice welder—the one who helped your mother. They put a curse on me for a selfish request I had made.**

"_What was your… request?" I asked._

**Oh, to be forever beautiful and young… Then to have my parents killed so that I could take over the throne.**

_She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked around the room—snapping her fingers in such a way it was like she was going along to invisible music._

_I stared at her shocked—she asked for her parents to be killed? What the heck is that?_

"_What's this deal?"_

**Oh. **_She started to giggle. _**If you can successfully kill my other personality and me when you come to rescue Mikan, the curse I'm going to plant on her won't be able to kill her, anndd you'll both be free of any more Koizumi attacks.**

"_Curse!" I yelled, "It won't kill her? What are you talking about?"_

_She was holding one of the candles in her hands looking at it expectantly—as if something was going to happen to the flame._

"_Why are you making a deal that involves killing yourself?" I asked when she didn't speak._

**The Alice welder that cursed me put a curse on me that eventually my other personality would start to consume my body and take away all of my beauty.**

_She ran a hand dramatically through her hair. I rolled my eyes mentally._

**So, it also means that my strength and power over my Alice and my Koizumi will no longer stay true. So, if you kill me, lets put it this way… I have an easy way out of things, and you don't have to worry about any more Koizumi attacks. Because the 'evil' me will be gone, that is what's ruling the Koizumi now. See this version of me isn't good for anything. Except for well, my good looks and controlling the men.**

_**I stared at Luna in shock. She wants to be killed so she can get out of loosing her beauty? What the heck is with that?**_

"_**Just because you don't want to be ugly?"**_

**Exactly—look do you want to save your girlfriend or not?**

"_Yes! I'll kill you!" I shouted._

_She smiled at me. I turned my head watching her as she headed towards the door that had just appeared behind me. She turned the knob and looked back at me._

**Good choice, I'll see you soon then, Natsume, hmm?**

I slowly opened my eyes as I recalled what had just happened… Firstly I had just made a deal with Luna in a dream, that was actually real. Then she was going to put a curse on Mikan—which was not going to go smoothly by me, because she can't use any of her Alice's or she'll be found out and probably hurt more.

"This sucks," I ran a hand through my hair.

I got up and headed back to the bathroom to do a quick wash up. Heading towards the closet I put on a new clean army shirt and ruffled my hair in the mirror.

Today was the day that we would be heading off towards the Sakura Kingdom. We had everything planned out to the last second and it was going to go smoothly, apparently though, we don't have anyone with a strong enough teleportation Alice to send us all the way to the Sakura Kingdom. So, everyone will be teleported to the halfway point to the Kingdom and we have to walk the rest of the way. Not also would this take us another day longer, but we also have to go in separate groups—because the Alice user with teleportation can only teleport 50 people at most, at a time.

So… it's already been two days since Mikan was taken and its going to be another day until we get there.

_Knock, Knock._

I looked towards the door and made sure I was wearing all the inventions before I headed to open it.

"Natsume!" Ruka said when I opened the door.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Were putting everyone in the groups for being sent over to the halfway mark," Ruka explained "I checked our number and we'll be the 4th group to go"

"Ok," I stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind me. "Who all's in our travelling group?"

"You, me, Tsubasa, Koko, Kitsuneme and a bunch of other soldiers" Ruka said following me down the stairs.

"That's it?"

"Yeah I think so,"

We took the stairs two at a time—finally reaching the bottom into the foyer. I headed towards the kitchen to have some breakfast. Mom and Aoi were sitting at the counter drinking some orange juice. Ruka and I sat down beside them.

"Good morning you two," Mom said.

I nodded and started digging into my eggs and bacon.

"Good morning, Queen Kaoru" Ruka said.

"Ruka," she whined "I told you just Kaoru is fine!"

Ruka sweatdropped, "Ye-yes, Kaoru"

"Yay! Thank you," Mom smiled.

Rolling my eyes, I dropped my fork on my plate and started to drink my orange juice. I think my mother may just be the weirdest person alive.

"So Aoi, continuing with what we were talking about before," Mom turned to my younger sister.

Aoi set her drink down on the top of the counter.

"Well, I've been having these weird dreams lately. It's of Onii-chan, Ruka and me when we were little—and there's always this brunette girl our age. But I can never see her face," Aoi shrugged and started gulping her orange juice again.

I choked on my drink. Faceless brunette girl…

My eyes widened—that faceless brunette is Mikan! That means that Aoi is starting to regain some of her old memories!

"Whoa," Ruka sat still. I took another drink.

"I've been having the same dream," Ruka and Mom said in unison.

I started to cough again. So everyone else is really regaining their memory again huh? That would make things more interesting. Maybe Mikan and mine engagement will be put back into place…

I shook that thought away.

_But it would be nice. _Shut up conscience I thought.

*Time Skip*

"Group 4!" the voice boomed through the speakers, "Group 4, please report to the Throne room right away!"

I got up and stretched my tired limbs—we had been waiting all day for this moment. Nudging Ruka along, we joined with Tsubasa, Koko and Kitsuneme towards the Throne room.

"What do we do once we get there?" Tsubasa asked Koko.

"We join with the other groups and set up a small camp while we wait for the other teams to all arrive—It's best if we sleep then because we wont be getting any sleep once we get on the move," Koko started.

"Then its straight to the Sakura Kingdom, and attacking" Kitsuneme finished.

"Okay,"

We stepped into the Throne room and strode to the stage where Mochi stood with the teleporter user. All of us stood in a line in front of him.

"Ok, every grab hold of each other," he said.

I grabbed Ruka and Tsubasa's arm—everyone else doing the same thing. Finally, The teleporter grabbed onto the end of the huge chain of all 50 of us. We began to fade away and I closed my eyes—something about changing places so quickly left me nauseated.

When I opened them again, we were standing in the middle of the forest. The small dot that rested in the horizon marks the spot where the Sakura Kingdom was. This was going to be quite interesting.

"Well let's get some rest, hmm?" Tsubasa said.

We nodded and started off to the camp that hid behind the mass of trees.

* * *

**Oki doki, chapter 21 is done (though it was a short chapter)**

**Remeber to review,**

**Thank yous too;**

**OYYES123- Aw, thank you so much! :D**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- sorry 'bout the late update... :/**

**xXBluefangXx- I know eh? I think Shin's awesome for helping Mikan ;)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys, this is such a late update I know D: **

**And I'm truly sorry. But I've been so busy with school work it isn't even funny. I haven't even had time to read any updates my favorite stories have had…**

**Anyways, I hope you guys can understand that these kinds of things happen and there's going to be times where I'll have to stop updating for a couple days to do school stuff. Putting school stuff first sucks, a lot… but sadly I do have to put it first—instead of Fanfic.**

**Ack :/**

**I don't like talking about school stuff, so changing the topic~**

**ANNONCEMENT:**

**The "Upcoming Stories" on my profile has been completely filled out now. I know I said I would save it… but I changed my mind :D **

**If you would like to, you can go and check out my profile and read the summary's of the different stories (Which I hope you will…Hehe) And you can also leave your choice for which story you would like me to write next. Send me a message with the subject "New story choice" or something like that, or you can just leave your choice in the reviews!**

**PS. New stories and there summaries are at the bottom of the chapter as well! Be sure to read 'em ;)**

**Thank you~**

**-Luna :)**

**On with the story… sorry 'bout any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 22:**

* * *

*Natsume's POV*

"…Natsume,"

I groaned and rolled over onto my side—telling myself to go back to sleep. But the noise in my ear kept going on and on and on… Sitting up, I threw a pillow towards the source.

"Natsume!" they shouted when I plopped my head back onto the pillow.

"…Let me handle this," someone muttered.

**Baka, Baka, Baka!**

"OWW!" I sat up rubbing my head. I glared harshly at Imai as I blinked the sleep out of my eyes.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Get up, Hyuuga," Imai said bluntly before walking away.

Standing up I followed the group out of the small tent. We headed through the mess of trees and bushes back to the road.

"…A small number of us will stay back and clean this place up. The rest of us let's get going now," we entered just as Mochi finished his speech.

Everyone murmured quietly and grabbed their horses.

"Let's go," Ruka said.

I stretched my sore muscles and followed Ruka to where our two horses were.

"Natsume-Ouji,"

I turned around and looked at the guy in front of me. Raising an eyebrow I waited for him to continue.

"Yo-your saddle," he passed it to me and I grabbed it.

"Thanks," I turned and set the saddle onto the horses back. Strapping it in, I jumped on.

"Let's get going then?" Tsubasa asked.

"Yeah," Koko grinned.

*Mikan's POV*

"Have you thought this over?" Luna asked.

"Yes, I think I have," I said.

I ran a hand threw my hair and stared at her as she advanced on me—I took a step back. How was I suppose to say this so I didn't face certain death by her hands? Luna eyed me curiously, standing just in front of me with her hands on her hips.

"Well?" she asked, "what is it?"

"U-um, we-ll," I stuttered.

I took a deep breath and looked her dead on in the eye.

"I don't want to join you," I firmly stated.

Luna blinked twice and stared at me blankly for a couple moments. I began to fidget with my fingers. My stomach began to tingle seconds before Luna lounged at me. I jumped to the left in a pitiful attempt to get away from her, but her arm stretched out and she grabbed my neck firmly with one hand—lifting me above the ground.

"Let go of me," I choked out through my gritted teeth. My hands automatically going around her wrist—I dug my nails into her, until a thin line of scarlet began to drip down her arm.

"You don't want to join me, you said?" Luna asked tilting her head to the side. Her eyes had changed from the azure blue into a vibrant ultramarine shade. I stared in shock at the fierce shade her eyes had changed.

"That's really too bad," she cooed "You have such a pretty face too. None the less, I still have to get you to join me. We can always get one of the Alice Users to mask your face back to normal, ne?"

I gaped for air that didn't seem to exist—my vision began to blur.

_Well I guess this is the end huh? I didn't think it would end so quickly… I thought for sure that they would at least have tortured me for a couple more days._

My feet swung back and forth desperately trying to find something to hold me up and get the air down my throat. I could barely hear Luna's ranting now; except for the odd thing.

After what felt like an eternity, I felt my feet touch something solid—shortly after so did the rest of my body as I fell to the ground, blinking the black dots from my eyes. Dazed, and slightly confused, I raised my head to blankly stare at the woman in front of me.

Her face was in hard lines and she glared at me roughly.

"_Mikan,_" she began. I shivered at the harsh tone she had used. It pierced through me like a knife.

"You will come and join me. Whether by force or by choice," Luna bent down over me, her fierce orbs stabbing through me. "I would've preferred if you had made the easy choose of joining with me right now. But it seems like you're still a little rebellious,"

"I guess I'll just have to show you what I do to the people that don't listen to me," she whispered into my ear.

I screamed out in pain when she grabbed me up again by pulling my hair. Completely awake now, the tears burned as they rolled down my cheeks.

"Do you know what I hate most about being the Koizumi's queen?" she asked but she didn't wait for me to reply, "that even though I look like _this_, they only listen to me because I have a split personality that is the most violent thing they have ever seen! My _looks_ are just a bonus, and they think they can just play around with me if they please to, even though I am their leader!"

My stomach began to twist as her grip tightened with each word she said. Her rage adding to the strength of her grip.

"But I get to have my fun too," she nodded her head, her eyes widening as she said it, "I can use this so called 'weapon' of my split personality to harm them,"

Luna's eyes hardened and she became so suddenly cold that I slowly began to stop resisting to her choking me, and watch in awe and horror as she transformed in front of me. I fell to the floor as she let me go once again, and I looked in amazement at the new woman that stood in front of me. . Her vibrant ultramarine eyes became so striking, you probably could have seen them clearly from miles away; and the silky strawberry blonde hair that she was so proud of changed into a bloody red that reached just below her waist. Her skin became ghostly pale, and the skintight dress she was wearing seemed wrong somehow now that it lay on her pale skin. She appeared more intimidating with her blood red hair and memorizing orbs that seemed to see right through you—she looked like one of the monsters that we used to read about when we were children, 'vampires'.

"Wha—" I croaked.

"Do you want to see what I do to them?" she smiled down at me; showing all of her sparkling white teeth—but the smile wasn't real, it was the complete opposite and it scared me. Luna reached down the front of her dress and I flinched away from her, crawling to the opposite end of the small circular room. She pulled out a narrow piece of solid wood—a wand I presume. It had intricate designs carved into the wood that looked to be some sort of ancient language. Luna glided over to me, her wand held by her thumb and index finger as she pointed it firmly at me.

"Wh-why do you look like that?" I asked. Maybe talking would prevent her from actually showing me the things she did to hurt people… to kill people.

"Oh," she giggled. "When I go into my 'split personality' I change to match the violence, death, rage, hate and all the other fun emotions that I'm feeling. And this would be the result of that,"

"Then this," she poked the wand into my arm "is my wand; because when I'm in this _form_, my Alice is 'changed', right now I'm what you would call a witch. But since I'm all 'evil' right now, this side of me prefers to give spells that kill people instead of just harm them"

Spells that kill people instead of just harm them… I thought that over for a moment, but started to dread it soon after. Luna raised her wand up; it still aimed straight at me.

"This is what I do to the men," she said, "_KAZLAR!_"

In a quick flash she brought the wand down once again, a wave of air gushed towards me like the after effect of waving a paper fan. Then I heard the sizzling as the energy zipped through the air, and knew that it wasn't going to be good. I braced myself, being careful to make sure I didn't accidentally activate any of my Alice's.

I screamed out in agony as the energy from her wand or spell or whatever it was, ripped through the skin of my hand—causing blood to drip from my finger tips. The pain ran up into my wrist towards my neck in one quick millisecond; the 'energy' stopped just above my heart and it felt like it was starting to collect all of my strength. I could feel myself getting weakened by it and knew that Luna had just done something to me that may possibly kill me.

"If your lucky, you should wake up for a couple seconds during your unconsciousness," Luna smirked "but the spell I just cast gives you probably two days left to live… maybe less,"

"Ahh," I weakly murmured as dizziness started filling my head; making to floor spin 100miles/second. Luna laughed like a crazed lunatic the entire time until finally the dizziness won and I crashed to the floor—my head hitting the hardest, causing my blood to spill onto the floor and knocking me into unconsciousness.

*Mikan's unconscious/dream state*

_I looked in confusion, then looked again; I was staring down at my body lying on the ground with blood spilling out from my head. I tried to move but I seemed to be glued to my vantage point—a.k.a. the ceiling. The circular room looked a lot duller then I had remembered, everything almost seemed to take on a shade of grey; except for the bright scarlet blood that lay spilled across the floor. _

"_What is this?" I asked myself._

_I could hear voices all around me; it was like a constant whisper in my ear. Peering out from the corner of my eye, I was able to see more of the room. Luna stood where I had last seen her, pinching the bridge of her nose—she was still in her 'split personality' form. Her lips moved but I couldn't hear anything she was saying. I watched in horror as she bent over me and stuck two fingers in my blood, she lifted them up with the blood dripping slowly off of her fingers; and then placed them into her mouth. Luna threw her head back—her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted. She took the blood stained fingers from her lips and reached into my blood again. She brought the blood back to her lips and murmured something; then somehow tipped her fingers causing all of the blood to fall back into the puddle; not leaving a single drop on her hand._

_Luna left the room shortly after closing the door with a heavy bang. I closed my eyes and opened them again to stare back down at my limp unmoving body. The color was draining from my face, and all over to be exact; I was beginning to look more and more like someone who was… dead? But I can't be dead. I'm just having one of those weird out of body experiences because I was knocked unconscious by a spell Luna put on me… that's supposedly also killing me as we speak. But still, totally NOT dead. I peered out the corner of my eye again to see if I was still alone in here…which I was. So maybe this was what was happening right now, like when I'm unconscious? Maybe if I tried to use my healing Alice I could go back to my body, nobody had to know anything… or would that be too suspicious? I don't know, but I think it would be worth the try._

_I focused back to my body and willed myself to heal and have that blue light wrap around me. But nothing happened. Trying again, only this time I imagined myself being dragged back down into my body. _

*Mikan awake state*

I saw the flash of blue light and a firm tug, I closed my eyes tightly and reopened them to stare at the ceiling and have the numbness of not being able to feel anything, replaced with an overwhelming sensation of pain.

I whimpered out of my lips, tasting the dried blood that rested there from being face down in a puddle of blood. Carefully, I turned my head so my cheek lay in the puddle instead of my whole face. The pain seared through me again and tears soaked my face. I willed my Alice to heal my bleeding head, so it would at least take care of that problem. But once the feeling of the blood running down my scalp stopped, I realized that wasn't the pain I was feeling; the pain was coming from the area over my heart that Luna's spell was cast upon.

Upon realizing that, the pain hit me full force, knocking me back out into unconsciousness.

*Shin's POV*

I finished handing out the last meal to the starving prisoner and turned to walk back towards the door and get out of this dark cramped room. I just wanted to finish the orders I had gotten from the Colonel, so I could get to back down to the tunnels to see if that girl was okay—it was her first time she would've met Luna's 'other' side. Luna had been going into that Sakura Princesses 'cell' the last I had seen her and that was enough to set me on edge. She wasn't in a very good mood when I had came back from putting her in the cell. Aki had been in the throne room trying to get another round from Luna and she didn't seem to be in the best mood.

Who knows what Luna might've done if Mikan had said anything wrong she may have snapped. I groaned at the thought of having to take care of her wounds. I had already saved her from Aki's (almost) sexual abuse, getting sick from being out in the rain, and lets not forget, cleaning up the mess Luna had left in that room before Mikan could see all the dead bodies. She probably would've known some of them; they were the bodies of people that had worked in the palace after all—then I would've had to wait for her to stop freaking out before I could leave her alone.

"Curse my over protectiveness," I breathed out. Opening the door that lead back into the Palace, I stepped back into the deserted hallway.

_Over protectiveness… over that girl? _I thought to myself.

I stopped in my tracks. Why was I worried about a girl I barely even knew? My confused reflection stared back at me as I stared into one of the mirrors. I shook my head, trying to think about something else instead; maybe like what happened when I came back…

*Hours before*

"Come on," a deep voice urged—sounded like it was coming from the Throne room.

Frowning, I snuck towards the Throne room door; nobody was standing guard, which seemed very strange. Usually Luna had at least one guard standing there at all times. I glanced around and didn't see anyone in the hall, or any of the surrounding rooms.

_They must all have gone out on patrol _I thought. Pressing my ear to the door, I stayed as quiet as I could to hear what was going on.

"…I've fixed your teeth already and let you kiss me. Get out Aki," Luna's voice stated.

I heard Luna's heels clacking as she walked across the floor. Another pair of stomping followed behind her, most likely belonging to Aki.

"Miss Luna," Aki said.

Silence followed for a couple seconds, and I thought I had been discovered. I was just about to walk away when they started talking again.

"AKI!" Luna yelled; she sounded extremely angry.

"I told you to get out! So leave!" she screeched, "And don't you ever do that again!"

I ran away back towards the kitchen before I got caught. I dove into the doorway just as the Throne room door was slammed open. Pressing myself against the wall, I watched as Aki stomped by with a red slap mark across his left cheek and Luna's unmistakable pink lipstick on his lips.

*Present Time*

"That Aki is going to have a early death if he thinks he can keep messing around with Miss Luna every time he pleases" I said to myself. Pushing the main door open and headed out into the cool air. I walked towards the temple as quick as possible without it seeming to weird to the other Koizumi's. Luna's state of mind after what Aki probably tried to do; who knows what she did to the princess…

I entered into the tunnel and jogged towards through the dirt pathways; unease was spreading through my stomach. Why was I so worried about this girl? For starters, I barely even knew her, she is the 'enemy' and I've only talked to her for not even one day. I sighed loudly as I took the last tunnel and stopped my jog, walking instead.

_I mean I don't like her, I don't think of her like that. Sure I feel protective about her… but more like a brotherly way. _I thought. That's it, I just feel like she's the little sister I never had. Relief passed through me as I put an end to my inner turmoil.

A door opening caused me to stop and slam myself into a dark corner of the tunnel wall. I held my breath as I stared at the end of the tunnel. Seconds later, Luna strode by; my eyes widened as I realized she wasn't like normal, but instead she was in her other 'form'. My heart started to beat faster and I forced myself to stay still. Once she wasn't in sight any more I sprinted down the rest of the tunnel towards the door. I opened it quickly and looked inside, my eyes greedily searching the room. Oddly I didn't see her standing anywhere… then a feeling of dread ran through my veins as I slowly looked down.

_DON'T LOOK! _My mind screamed.

My stomach turned as I looked upon the sight of Mikan lying unmoving on the ground; blood surrounding the area by her head. My feet felt like someone had just tied cement blocks around my ankles as I dragged myself into the room. The door clicked shut behind me as I kneeled down on my knees in front of her.

"Oh shit," I cursed.

I placed my fingers into the side of her neck; there was a faint pulse, but still a pulse. Standing up, I looked around the room.

"Where the hell is that first aid I gave her?" I glanced around again and saw the pillar that hid the spot where she had her bed set up. Quickly, I ran over and threw the blanket away—I grabbed the bag and opened it. The first aid things were barely visible from the light the candles were giving off. Everything seemed a lot darker then normal.

I zoomed back towards Mikan's unconscious form and carefully picked her up. Walking steadily back towards her bed I set her in it gently. I lifted her head up to examine the wound—oddly it looked scabbed over… healed even; and a wound that could cause that much amount of blood lose shouldn't heal that quickly without help.

"Shin, think about that later," I scolded myself "Bandage. Now,"

I grabbed the bandage and carefully tilted her head so I could pull it around—after I finished wrapping it around her, I tied it snuggly, so it wouldn't fall off. Sighing, I leaned my back against the pillar and stared down at her purple and blue face. She looked peaceful with her eyes closed… minus the fact that she was barely alive at the moment, blood stained her cheek and her face was clammy from the cold sweat. Never mind, I take that back; she doesn't look peaceful at all.

I ran my hands through my hair and grabbed a fistful of my bangs. Glancing over at the blood that lay just a couple feet away, I miserably groaned. Might as well clean it…

I took the towel from her 'bag of supplies' I had given her. Walking grimly towards the puddle, I got down on my knees and soaked the blood into the towel, inch by inch the puddle began to disappear. Lifting up the now blood soaked towel, I activated my disintegrate Alice and destroyed the towel…and the blood.

I sensed her waking before she let out a blood-curdling scream. My eyes widened and I turned around swiftly, Mikan lay on the blanket, her eyes blood shot and wide open; grabbing the blanket like she could somehow hold herself from leaving back into unconsciousness. The sight made my stomach knot, but none the less, I was kneeled down beside her in a flash.

"Mikan?" I asked peering down at her. Although her eyes were open, it didn't seem like she could see anything.

"Hu—hur—ts," she gasped through clenched teeth. My eyes softened and I pushed the hair from her sweaty forehead.

"I know," I murmured "Your head was hit pretty bad—"

"Not my head!" She sobbed out, "…not my head"

"Mikan, you hit your head—"

"Not my head! I healed my head," She gasped "I have Alice, more then one actually,"

"Wha—"

She grimaced and stared at me; the pain flashed across her face again. From the looks of it, she may pass out again any moment. It's a wonder she can stay conscious for this long already… but wait, she said she _healed _herself. So that means she's probably using her Alice to stay awake right now? But what are the others…? How does she have Alice?

"Long story," she looked at me; her hazel eyes stained with red. "Luna, she—"

Mikan started coughing; blood coming from the corners of her mouth. I stared helplessly; I couldn't do anything except wipe her face off.

"She put a spell on me," she choked out between coughs, "Kazlar…"

Her head hit the floor again as she went back into unconsciousness.

Kazlar… Kazlar… I've heard that before, what is it?

"Crap!" I yelled. Standing to my feet quickly; I started pacing back and forth. Kazlar was the spell Luna put on people to slowly kill them, and put them in the most pain they've ever experienced. Basically used on people like Aki who tried to play around with Luna.

"Now this explains more," I grumbled. Cursing, I stopped pacing and stared back at Mikan.

"How the hell am I suppose to help her now?" I sunk to the floor and stared up at the ceiling.

* * *

**Remember to Review and tell me what you think. :)**

**Thank you's too;**

**karti- Haha, thank you very much for your review. Sorry for the long time it took to update **

**Xsunsetx- I'm sorry, but, um, I do have school and that involves homework/projects; and sadly I need to put school first. I do plan on finishing this story, although my updates may not be every day. I try to work on it whenever I can, 'kayy? But thank you for reading my story, :) Sorry for the wait~**

**Kinomoto1995- Aww, thank you very much. I'm glad you like it! :) Sorry for the long wait for the new chapter**

**bunnyjumps- Thanks for your review! :) I'm really sorry this took so long to update**

**MangAnimePrincess- Thank you :) Sorry for the wait**

**OYYES123- Well, kinda update fast... minus this one xD Sorry for that... But thanks for your review~**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- Thanks for your review :D Sorry bout the long wait**

**ANNONCEMENT:**

"**Upcoming Stories"**

**Bite me-** Mikan sends a video of herself and her information to an elite school she hopes to attend- only kids that meet the certain qualities may enter. She's shocked when she receives an acceptance letter in the mail, telling her that she is to be at the school a week before classes start. Once she arrives, she begins to realize this school is anything but normal. Especially since she has a vampire watching her every move... NxM (Romance/Supernatural)

**Generations of Witches-**Mikan is from a long line of witches; her family being second strongest in the magic kingdom, Alcazar. But trouble is brewing between the doors that keep the Magic World and the Human World separated, and Mikan is chosen to go over to the Human World with a small number of other people to watch over her. Her mission is to find the human that will help bring order back between both the human and magic worlds and destroy the evil forces that are trying to destroy the two worlds... NxM (Romance/fantasy)

**Just you and me-**Mikan Sakura is a poor girl. Always being covered in dirt from living in the streets does nothing to show how beautiful she really is. But what happens when she prays for some kind of help and finds an old book of spells. Gaining a handsome 'guardian' to rescue her- flipping her life from rags and dirt, to riches and happiness... NxM (Romance/Fantasy)

**Small Town-** Mikan is just a small town girl, working as a waitress in a small restaurant to pay for her bills. Everything is going good for her, and she has made many friends from her co-workers and the regular visitors. Mikan is also very special; she has 'powers'. To feel the feelings of others- she calls it Empathy, and also another called Telepathy. Everything is going great for her, until one day, chaos spreads through her town- heading straight for her... NxM (Romance/Supernatural)

**Staying Here-**Mikan and Hotaru are two princesses living together. They both have supernatural abilities (including everyone in the royal families). The two girls wish they could be treated like a normal person for once, and a couple days later they get there wish. They are forced to become 'commoners' and keep a low profile- for a group of assassins are trying to kill them... NxM (Romance/Fantasy)

**The Forgotten-** Mikan's school life is about to change, actually her whole life is. It starts with a mysterious, handsome new transfer student and then her learning her parent's and friends secrets- there vampires, and she's becoming one too! But a group of vampire hunters known as 'the forgotten' are hunting the vampires down one by one. Forcing Mikan to be sent away with her friends... and the mysterious guy... NxM (Romance/Supernatural)

**This is me-** Mikan is a normal teenage girl, that is until she accidentally finds her self at a 'T-stars new singing sensation!' audition and is forced into singing. Then her life is flipped when she is chosen as the winner. How will she handle her rise to fame, especially if she has to be the lead singer of a band with two gorgeous guys in it? ... NxM (Romance)


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! :D **

**Sorry if there are any errors, and such. **

**& Oh my gosh 107 reviews! You guys are amazing ^.^**

**ANNOCEMENT ON UPCOMING STORIES:**

**I forgot to put a story in with the other's it's called 'The Vampire Hunter'. I put the summary down at the end of the chapter.**

**Also, about the ratings, I'm thinking that basically they will all be T. But in some of the stories there's going to be violence so the rating may be M (there's like 4 I know that have violence planned… 'Small Town', 'Staying Here', 'The Forgotten', and 'The Vampire Hunter') —but there's not going to be any "Mature" stuff, if you know what I mean… *cough* sexual things *cough*.**

**That's all I have for that update… I'll put the story 'votes' at the end of the chapter too, if you haven't gone to my profile.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 23:**

* * *

*Natsume's POV*

We have been riding for hours and since my nap was oh so rudely interrupted by a certain ice queen—I was starting to doze off. My eyes were slowly closing and I shook my head, trying to stay awake.

"Natsume?" I looked up at my best friend.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just tired," I said.

"Okay, it's just about 6 more hours until we get there,"

"Yeah…" I mumbled.

*A hour later*

"Ugh," I groaned sliding off the horses back. My butt was literally numb from riding for an hour—and we weren't even close to the Sakura Kingdom yet. It was still 5 more hours.

"Everyone rest up for half an hour! Then we're back on the horses right away!" Mochi yelled, "If you aren't there we'll leave you!"

I was sooo going back to sleep, and if Imai hits me with that gun of hers again I swear I'll burn it. Anyways, I'll need all my strength to go on for another couple hours of horse riding before we stop again. I walked towards an area where there wasn't any tents already set up and threw down my bag of stuff; searching through it, I grabbed a small red button and pulled it out. Pressing the button down, I threw it on the ground in front of me, seconds later, a tent popped up.

"Good thing we have compact tents, pre-made," I smirked. Climbing in, I pulled my stuff in behind me and collapsed onto the pillow.

*Natsume's 'dream'*

_I stepped onto the hot sand and stared at the sparkling blue water in awe. For a dream I seemed to get really lucky, at least it wasn't another Luna dream. I shuttered and headed towards the water—just noticing that I was in swimming trucks. I stepped into the cool water, heading in so that I was waist deep in the sparkling liquid. _

_I had just closed my eyes when I heard a loud whistle. Opening my eyes I turned around._

"_Ugh, I knew this was to good to be true," I grumbled._

_Luna walked towards me—her strawberry hair pulled up and a hot pink bikini on. I stared at her blankly as she waded into the water a couple feet away from me._

"_What are you doing here?" I asked._

"_What do you mean?" she giggled. "This is a dream controlled by me,"_

"_Great" My face scrunched in disgust. _

"_Oh shush," she growled "I have to deliver some bad news,"_

_I raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"_

"_Mikan has less then two days left to live," Luna shrugged "I put the spell on her. Guess you really have to complete that deal now, ne?"_

_I went numb all over. "Wh-what?"_

"_Yup, Did it a little while ago. Finally was able to get my—"_

_I lounged at Luna; but she was controlling this dream, so of course she was able to get away. My fire Alice surrounded me boiling the once relaxing water into the complete opposite. Well, I couldn't feel it of course, so it didn't bother me like it did Luna. But she hoped out of the water, my flames following her onto the sand._

"_Sheesh, don't shoot the messenger. Even if the messenger did do it," Luna said. Then she poofed into nothing and disappeared. Her presence completely gone now… she was no longer in the dream—good. I sunk down in the water so it came up to my chest; I stared at my reflection in the water for what felt like an eternity before I slammed my fist down. Walking to shore, I laid down on the sand, letting the warmth from my Alice dry me off so I didn't get sand stuck to me._

_Staring up at the sky I started cursing. How am I suppose to get to her quickly and save her? Damn Luna…_

_Closing my eyes, I focused in on Mikan and using our telepathy—begging and praying something would happen. That I could hear her voice, to know she was still alive. Nothing happened after 5 minutes of trying._

"_Please…" I said to no one in particular._

_I cleared my mind so I didn't hear anything else, didn't think of anything at all, except of Mikan. Please let me just hear her voice, and let me be able to see her… I let the image of Mikan's smiling face enter my mind. The smell of her strawberry scent filled my nose as I let my imagination take over me. Her brilliant smile sending tingles down my arms, I could already hear her saying my name…_

_My ankle began to burn and a hot flash of pain ran up my leg. I snapped my eyes opened and stared down at my ankle. The tattoo that bound Mikan and I was… moving. Tracing a finger lightly over the skin, I watched the crimson butterfly as it stretched its wings across my skin. The butterfly fluttered its wings and I watched in awe as it moved around my ankle. Seconds later the butterfly returned back to its normal position like nothing ever happened._

"_What was that…?" I said to myself._

_I closed my eyes shrugging it off; these dreams are really weird…_

_Thoughts of Mikan entered my mind again and I reached out towards it with my mind. The familiar feeling of warmth wrapped around me as I tried to use the bond to feel her location instead of speaking with her—since that didn't work. I let the invisible string stretch out until I felt it tug… rather roughly, pulling me down into the sand. Coughing, I sat up and wiped the sand off my face._

"_What the hell!" I growled. I turned around so I was lying on my back again—guess nothing wants to work for me. Maybe it's because I'm in a dream… But this is one of those weird 'Luna' dreams— well until she left it, I thought._

"…_Natsume," _

_Yeah and even now I'm hearing Mikan's voice; it's like this place is mocking me. I squeezed my eyes shut and ran a hand through my messy hair._

"_Natsume"_

_Maybe it can read my mind or something. Like it wants me to be even more pissed off that I can't reach through to her. Luna's lucky she isn't here—I would've burned her several times already if she were…_

"_Natsume!" _

_I snapped my eyes open as someone fell down against my chest. Their hair being the only thing I could see—my nose was filled with the faint scent of strawberries…I slowly pushed myself up—was this to good to be true? As I sat up the person moved back, only to let out a surprised squeak as I pushed them onto their back and crawled over them—trapping them against the ground. We stared at each other—bright hazel eyes locking with my crimson._

"…_Mikan" I breathed. My fingers lightly traced her cheek; still shocked that I was seeing her, right here, right now. She fought back tears as she leaned into my hand—holding it to her cheek with her own small, soft hand._

"_Natsume," _

"_How are you here?" I whispered._

"_I—I don't know. I was at home… well sort of. More like in a weird dream…" she drifted off. "But then all the sudden I felt this weird tug, and I thought it was just me going back to my body again—but then I came here, and I saw you"_

_I stared into her beautiful eyes, "Luna… she was here before. But she said that—that you only had two days left to live,"_

"_Yeah… she wasn't to happy that I denied her request," she gulped. I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms underneath her around her waist—but still keeping our faces about 3 inches apart. My nose was barely touching hers._

"_It's amazing the trouble you can manage to get yourself into," I murmured brushing a stray hair behind her ear. We stared at each other silently for a while. Slowly, I ran my thumb over her bottom lip—testing to make sure she was real. I leaned down closer to her so our noses were pressed against each other's; I could feel her breath against my lips and I leaned down closer._

"…_You're real right?" I breathed._

_Her lips tugged up into a small smile. "I hope so"_

_I grinned and closed the small space between us— pressing my lips down against hers. _

"_I'm going to save you," I said when we pulled away._

"_I know" she smiled._

_I rested my forehead against hers and lightly kissed her again. We rolled over and I chuckled at her blush._

"…_Do you know why my clothes changed?" she whispered while looking down. _

_I blinked twice, "What do you mean?"_

"_I wasn't wearing a bathing suit before,"_

_I looked away from her face and raised myself up on my elbows—Mikan slid of me and rolled onto her side. Then I saw what she meant. My eyes scanned over her pink polka dotted bikini, I blushed faintly when I seen the amount of her creamy skin that was exposed._

"_Oh…" _

"_Pervert… don't gawk at me," Mikan blushed. I adverted my eyes to the sky, attempting to get rid of the thought of crawling back on to her and kissing her…_

"_I see you still choose to have a polka doted bathing suit, hmm Polka?" I teased._

"_It's not like it was my choice!" she huffed._

"_Mmm, I'm sure Polka" _

"_Natsume!" _

_I looked back over at her and smirked—wagging my eyebrows just to bug her._

"_Pervert…" she grumbled. I watched her stand up and walk towards the water._

"_You gonna join me or what?" Mikan yelled from the water._

_I smirked and got up—running towards her. She squealed as I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her down into the liquid._

"_Natsume! I'm going to ki—" I planted my lips against hers, "…Mmph"_

_She wrapped her arms lightly around my neck and I pulled her onto my lap. My body temperature began to rise as I felt my Alice activate—turning the water into a bubbling hot tub. I pushed Mikan's wet hair away from her face as I deepened the kiss. The hair on the back of my neck rose as her soft fingertips lightly traced a circular pattern before running through my damp hair. _

_We both broke the kiss at the same time. The water lapped around us as we sat resting our foreheads against each other's. My Alice had left the water fairly warm, and it felt nice as the sun dried the small drops of water that was on my skin._

"_How long do you think this will last?" Mikan asked._

"_I don't know…" I looked around at the sky again, it looked like the sun was beginning to set._

"_Maybe for as long as we want it to?" she said hopefully._

"_I hope so"_

_We looked back at each other and I caressed her cheek lightly. I picked her up bridal style and headed back towards shore._

"_Natsume!" she squeaked. "Put me down"_

"_Mmm," I activated my Alice letting the warmth radiate off me and dry the both of us off. _

"_Nahh" I said as I fell to the ground, letting her fall down beside me. Wrapping my arms around her, I cuddled her to me._

"_I don't think that was really necessary," Mikan grumbled—but leaning into my chest none the less._

_The sky had changed from the clear blue, into the warm hues of pink, orange and purple as the sun began to set. I turned my head so that my cheek was resting on the top of her head. After the sun had disappeared, I felt a weird sensation against my cheek. I shrugged it off and activated my fire Alice, igniting a piece of wood that was in front of us—sending flickering waves of heat and light back to us._

_The feeling on my cheek had came back—but now it felt warm and slightly wet. I pulled my head off of hers and wiped my fingers across my cheek. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the light so I could see what was on my finger. Seconds later, my blood stained fingers came into view._

"_Mikan," _

_She glanced back at me, "Yeah?"_

"_Your heads bleeding," I said lightly my Alice again above us—making a freshly broken scab more visible. The scarlet liquid was slowly running down her scalp; staining her hair._

"_Wh-what?" she touched her head and stared at her fingers when she brought them back down._

_Her face seemed paler now too. I sucked in a sharp breath as I was suddenly hit with the strong sensation of pain coming from Mikan. Grasping my shirt above my heart, I tried to shake the pain off. _

"_Nat-Natsume," she whimpered. Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth and I stopped and stared at her shocked._

"_What's happening?" I asked numbly._

"_I-I thin-k Lun-a's spe-ll is re-turning," she gasped out. _

_Which means this dream is ending… I thought. _

_Grimly, I wiped the blood off her face, shocked at how cold she was I pulled her to me—activating my Alice. I rubbed my hands on her arms, the cold sweat soaking my palms. _

"_Mikan…" I swallowed the lump in my throat, "I'll save you, I'll make the pain go away…"_

"_I know you will," I could feel her tears dripping onto my arms._

"_I love you," I whispered in her ear._

"_I love…" she drifted off silently. I stared as she slowly started to dissolve from my arms. My ankle burned once again as Mikan left the dream—returning back to the Sakura Palace._

_I sat on the ground numbly as I felt the dream ending for myself too. Slowly, I closed my eyes._

*End of Natsume's 'dream'*

I opened my eyes and stared at the top of the tent. Damn Luna and her stupid Kozumi's—if it wasn't for them Mikan would ever have been in this situation. All the sudden I felt an extreme wave of anger wash over me. Cursing I stepped out of the tent, throwing my bag out in front of me. I pressed the button and grabbed the now compact tent in my hand. Tossing it in my bag, I walked towards my horse, glaring at everyone that looked at me.

"Hyuuga," Imai's cold voice grumbled beside me. I turned my head towards her, and stared at her blankly.

"What?" I hissed.

"Don't make me shoot you with this" she motioned towards her Baka gun.

I glared at her. "You wouldn't be able to, I'll burn it,"

"Fire resistant" she stated with a smirk.

"Whatever,"

I hooked my bag up to the horse's saddle—ignoring Imai. She started talking to Ruka about something as I jumped onto the horse.

"Hyuuga," I looked down at Imai, "I have my ways to find out what happened"

Her eyes glinted as images of her hooking wires to my brain went through my head.

"She has less then two days to live," I said.

"What?" Ruka and Imai asked at the same time.

Sighing, I took a deep breath to calm myself and I dropped off the horse.

"Luna she makes me have these _dreams_ and I see the time when were rescuing Mikan at the Palace and Luna told me that she was going to put a curse on her, and that the only way to save her would be for me to kill Luna" I stated.

Crossing my arms across my chest, I watched as Imai's face flashed a quick tad of emotion, then she returned back to her stoic expression. Ruka on the other hand was gaping and shock was displayed over his face.

"Then why are we still here!" Ruka yelled out, "We need to get going now. If we don't we'll have one day to save her,"

"I—"

"Everyone on the horses now! We're leaving!" Mochi yelled interrupting me.

"Nevermind," I muttered.

We got on our horses and followed the caravan along the road heading towards the Sakura Palace—our horses zooming along like lightning with the speed booster needles Imai had given each of them. But even though we had that, it would still take us 5 hours to get there.

"Some help that is…" I said to myself.

*Mikan's POV*

I let out a pained squeak as my 'dream self' fell back into my body. Grasping the blanket as hard as I could to stay in my body, I looked out of the corner of my eye to see if Shin was still here.

"Sh-shin?" I called out weakly.

I heard shuffling and I clenched my teeth as a wave of nausea hit me. Shin kneeled down beside me and felt my forehead.

"First you're cold, now you're hot," he grumbled. "Hold on, I'll be right back with some water"

I nodded my head a little and he disappeared. A couple seconds later, he was lifting my head up—he held the water bottle to my lips and I swallowed greedily as the liquid entered my mouth. Shin put a cold towel on my forehead and began wiping some of the sweat off my face with another.

"Thanks…" I breathed out.

"Yeah, no problem,"

I sighed as the nausea went away. My head felt suddenly extremely light as I turned to look at Shin.

"My head…" I frowned.

"What about it?" he asked.

"It feels really light… its strange," I whispered slowly.

"Oh, apparently when you surround someone with wind it cleanses them," Shin shrugged, "So I thought I'd try it"

"How does it feel?" he asked me.

"I feel really sleepy," I yawned.

He smiled down at me, "Then go to sleep, no one will hurt you. I'll be sitting right here,"

"Okay," I closed my eyes and let the comfort of the wind flowing around me drift me into a deep sleep.

* * *

**Remember to Review and tell me what you thought, and to post your 'vote' for which story you would like if you haven't already! ***

**Thank you's too;**

**Kinomoto1995- Thank you~ I want to make Shin a 'good guy' 'cause I think he's awesome like that :P **

**OYYES123- Hope you liked the chapter! Mikan was okay for a bit of it, but then… not so much.**

**Kitty cat lysanne- Aww thank you :D**

**The Devils Song- Actually I got the idea for 'This is me' from an anime called Kirarin Revolution—awesome anime. The one guy reminds me of Natsume~ But now that I think about it, it seems kind of similar to Camp Rock.**

**akjupiter- Thank you very much!**

**lilkathra- Thank you :)**

**Azamaria- I'm glad you like it ^.^**

**SakuraPetals13- Shin just may possibly be :O… who knows? I love Romance/Supernatural stories so that's why, hehe**

**MangAnimePrincess-I am getting close… my first fanfic is almost done. That's pretty exciting :D**

**GAKUENALICEROCKS- I hope you liked this chapter, I put in a NxM scene :)**

**ANNOCEMENT:**

"**Upcoming Stories"**

**Votes are beside the title**

**Bite me-** 3

Mikan sends a video of herself and her information to an elite school she hopes to attend—only kids that meet the certain qualities may enter. She's shocked when she receives an acceptance letter in the mail, telling her that she is to be at the school a week before classes start. Once she arrives, she begins to realize this school is anything but normal. Especially since she has a vampire watching her every move… NxM (Romance/Fantasy)

**Generations of witches-** 1

Mikan is from a long line of witches; her family is the second strongest family in the magic kingdom, Alcazar. But trouble is brewing between the doors that keep the Magic World and the Human World separated, and Mikan is chosen to go over to the Human World with a small number of other people to watch over her. Her mission is to find the human that will help bring order back between both the human and magic worlds and destroy the evil forces that are trying to destroy the two worlds… NxM (Romance/Fantasy)

**Just you and me-** 2

Mikan Sakura is a poor girl. Always being covered in dirt from living in the streets does nothing to show how beautiful she really is. But what happens when she prays for some kind of help, then she finds a book of spells and a handsome "Guardian" comes to the rescue—flipping her life from rags and dirt, to riches and happiness… NxM (Romance/Fantasy)

**Small Town- **1

Mikan is just a small town girl, working as a waitress in a small restaurant to pay for her bills. Everything is going good for her, and she has made many friends from her co-workers and the regular visitors. Mikan is also very special; she has "powers". To feel the feelings of other people—she calls it empathy, and telepathy. Everything is going great for her, Until one day, chaos spreads through her town—heading straight for her… NxM(Romance/Supernatural)

**Staying Here-** 2

Mikan and Hotaru are two princesses living together. They both have supernatural abilities (including everyone in the royal families). The two girls wish they could be treated like a normal person for once, and a couple days later they get there wish. They are forced to become 'commoners' and keep a low profile—for a group of assassins are trying to kill them… NxM (Romance/Fantasy)

**The forgotten-** 1

Mikan's school life is about to change, actually her whole life is. It starts with a myserious, handsome new transfer student and then her learning her parent's and friend's secrets—their vampires, and she's becoming one too! But a group of vampire hunters known as 'the forgotten' are hunting the vampires down one by one. Forcing Mikan to be sent away with her friends… and the mysterious guy…NxM (Romance/Supernatural)

**This is me-** 2

Mikan is a normal teenage girl, that is until she accidentally finds herself at a 'T-stars new singing sensation!' audition and is forced into singing. Then her life is flipped when she is chosen as the winner. How will she handle her rise to fame, especially if she has to be the lead singer of a band with two gorgeous guys in it? … NxM (Romance)

**** NEW STORY IDEA** **

**The Vampire Hunter—** 0

Mikan and Natsume are destined to be together—they end up finding each other in each life they live. Now welcome to the inhabited world of the supernatural. Mikan a beautiful, but ruthless vampire hunter, and Natsume a handsome, yet arrogant vampire. He saves Mikan's life and she's in debt to him—much to her dismay. How will these two survive together if their love isn't allowed or if they want to kill each other every chance they get? … NxM (Romance/Supernatural)

*** Leave your choice in the reviews if you haven't already! If you wish to make a change just say what you had picked and what you would like to change it to, please and thank you!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey guys! This is a long chapter just like I said! I'm soo happy it's actually long :P**

**ANNONCEMENT: **

**So far 'BITE ME' is in the lead for my next story! If I've counted right... I think soo- but I'll double check after ;)**

**Enjoy this chapter! I only have maybe 2 or 3 chapters left!**

**& sorry if there's any errors :/**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 24:**

* * *

*Mikan's POV*

Yawning, I slowly opened my eyes. I was feeling a lot better since seeing Natsume, and that wind thing that Shin had done too had helped somehow made the pain fade away. I stretched my legs out, listening to the different pops as my joints cracked. It was oddly satisfying, so I continued to stretch my arms and roll my neck, listening to the pops—it was a creepy noise, but I somehow find it enjoyable.

"I see that the wind helped a bit,"

"I think so, at least for a little bit anyway" I smiled over at Shin.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well its not a guaranteed permanent fix"

"I know," I sighed "Can I have some food before I start getting sick again,"

"Oh!" Shin sat up quickly, "I forgot about that. Hold on, I brought some food down here this morning"

The wind underneath me slowly faded away, lowering me back onto the ground. I sat up and peered around the pillar, watching as Shin grabbed a tray of food, bringing it to me.

"Mmm," my mouth watered as soon as I saw the bread and eggs.

Shin set it on my lap and I dug into the eggs as he started buttering the bread. I gave him a grateful look then continued to stuff my face. My tummy growled when I picked up the piece of buttered bread—I blushed when Shin burst out laughing.

"…Excuse me," I mumbled—then took a big bite into the bread. I let out a huge sigh as I swallowed.

"You're so weird," Shin laughed.

I gave him a look and swiped the bread out of his hand—he was about to eat it too. He grumbled something under his breath and I glared at him.

"My food,"

"I got it for you!"

"To bad, it's mine now" I took another dramatic bite into the bread—emphasizing it was mine. He rolled his eyes again and leaned into the wall. His face became suddenly serious—and I swallowed the suddenly tasteless bread.

"What is it?" I asked warily.

"Luna has everyone—I mean the soldiers, getting their equipment ready," he said slowly, "They're getting ready for battle"

"Wh-what? Why?" I asked.

_No one was suppose to know about them coming! Does that mean that they detected them?_

"She wants to invade Hyuuga Kingdom when they least expect it" Shin said, interrupting my thoughts.

I sighed out in relief. _So they haven't been discovered then? _

"But… Luna. She wants to come and see you again, before she sends them out…" Shin began quietly.

"What?" I gulped.

"I don't think she's coming down here until later tonight. So you'll have plenty of time to rest and enjoy the time before the wind's cleanse disappears"

I closed my eyes, a grim expression forming across my face.

"…Hey,"

I opened my eyes and looked at Shin. "Yeah?"

"The other day, you said you had Alice. Is that true?"

I gnawed on my lip. Should I tell him? Could I trust Shin with this? I mean, he's already gone out of his way to help me, and watch over me. It should be fine… maybe he could help me. I brought my hand up to my neck; sliding my fingers against my Alice Pendant to make sure it was still there. My fingers tingled from the raw power of the Alice Stones.

"Um," I began slowly. "Yeah, I do"

"Really?" his eyes widened, "Everyone said that you didn't have any Alice in you at all!"

"Well, I didn't before… but now I do. Actually I have 3 Alice's—umm, well, possibly more" I thought of the Alice of Mark and of the other power that Oracle said I had unlocked.

"Seriously? You said you had Healing, what else can you do?"

"Telepathy, and Nullification"

_Plus maybe Alice of Mark and another one… _I muttered in my head.

"Nullification… that's like a barrier right?" I nodded my head "That means you could stop Luna from hurting you right?"

"Yup, Natsume trained me how to use my Nullification so it's really good now!"

"Then why don't you use it when Luna hurts you?" he frowned.

"Because I can't let her know that I have Alice. Otherwise, I'll be dead meat"

"I totally forgot about that point…" he grumbled.

I giggled, "Possibly,"

We fell into a comfortable silence. I sighed and stared up at the ceiling, tracing patterns from the cracked tiles. Shin slid over beside me and plopped on his back. I paid no attention to him, while I stared blankly up at the ceiling. My neck and fingers tingled— a reminder of the Alice Pendant that was radiating power through me.

Images started forming on the ceiling and I watched in a half daze as colors zoomed around—chasing each other and blending into different hues. The colors began dripping down in long strips, I held out my hand with my palm up. My hand felt warm as the colors danced their magic against my palm—then the colors changed into a bright, bloody scarlet and I spread my fingers, watching the blood like liquid drip down my finger tips in slow movements.

"…Weird" I whispered dazed. I swirled my fingers around in the air, the liquid following suit.

"Mikan? What are you doing?"

The colors snapped away and I glanced down at Shin wide-eyed. He was propped up on one elbow looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Huh?"

"You kind of zoned out…" he muttered, "You okay?"

"Uh," I looked down at my fingers; no colors seeped from my skin. "Yeah, I'm fine"

*Time skip*

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I paced the room. There was no way to get out of this without having to meet with Luna again. It's already been 2 hours and she hasn't shown—but the pain still hasn't returned either. So that was good… I hope anyways.

"Maybe she forgot?" Shin suggested—doubt obvious in his voice. He knew that she was coming, no matter how late she came at. I glanced back at him and shook my head. Shin grasped my arms as I turned to complete my 50th lap around the small room.

"Stop pacing," he instructed, "you're freaking me out too"

"Sorry," I whispered. I looked down at my toes, his grip on my arms loosening.

"Hey…" he lifted my chin up—I stared into his green eyes.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure," he said, his eyes searching my face.

"I'm not so sure about that, Shin"

"I know" he sighed.

We both sat down on the floor. I combed my fingers through my knotty hair—dry blood still stuck to my scalp. I huffed out a breath as I blew the dried blood off my fingertips.

_Too bad I'll probably have even more blood on me after today…_

What day is it anyway? How long have I been here…? I can't even remember—3 days? Or has it only been 2?

"Shin, how many days have gone by since I first got here?" I asked.

"Uhmm," his face furrowed as he thought, "3 days, I think this is your 4th"

"Wow, It's been that long, huh?"

"I guess so,"

We fell back into a comfortable silence. We've only known each other for four days? Yet we're already so close—maybe being put through something difficult together really does bring people together…

Then a thought hit me—Suddenly, I turned around and grabbed Shin's arm.

"Won't you get in a lot of trouble if Luna finds out that you've been helping me?" I asked quickly.

His eyes widened, and then his face softened. His bangs fell over his eyes as he looked away.

"Yeah, probably," he whispered to the ground. He lifted his head after a small pause and looked me in the eyes, "But I'm going to try my best to make sure you're okay"

My eyes widened. "But Shin, what if she kills you!"

"At least I would've died doing the right thing," he said softly.

"But Shin—" he silenced me with a look. Tears swelled in my eyes as I hugged him tightly.

"Promise me that you won't get yourself killed, okay?" I pleaded.

"I… I promise"

I sighed out in relief and released him from my hug. My neck tingled and I my fingers skimmed over the stones.

"Oww!" I cried out. The stone burnt me! I brought my searing finger to my lips and blew out over it in an attempt to cool it off.

"What?" Shin asked.

"I burnt my finger!" I whined.

"How?" He gave me a strange look.

"…Have you ever heard of Alice necklaces?" I breathed quietly. He nodded.

"How about _invisible _Alice necklaces?"

"Invisible?" he whispered.

I nodded my head. "My best friend is an inventor, and I got a bunch of Alice stones and put them on a chain… with an invisible 'enchantment' on it"

"Whoa, neat"

"Yeah"

"Can you use the stones?"

I grasped Natsume's Alice stone. It shimmered in response.

"No, I don't think so" The stone seared in my hand—as if in disagreement. I watched it with curiosity, my fingers started getting warm again, but I kept watching the stone—whispers in the back of my head were louder then Shin.

_Maybe… I can use them? _The stone I held in my hand seared against my flesh again. Was that the power I unlocked that Oracle had been talking about…?

"Mikan! Someone's coming!" Shin breathed in my ear. I snapped out of my trance and threw everything into the small backpack.

"How can you tell?" I gasped as I ran around hiding the medicine supplies behind the pillar. I watched him disintegrate the plate of food and blow the ashes—scattering them around the room.

"I heard it from the wind,"

"You can hear things from far away by using the air?" I asked in awe. That's soo cool! But I can't be amazed right now. We were standing at the furthest wall panting as we watched the door handle twisting.

"Shin… the pain still hasn't returned yet"

His face paled, "Shi—"

The door swinging open cut him off. It clattered against the wall with a loud bang. Luna stood in the doorway, hands on her hips looking non-to pleased. She strode into the room and looked at Shin and I from head to toe.

"Aki," she snapped her fingers. Aki walked into the room—he smirked over at shin and bowed before Luna.

"Hold her, don't let her go any where" she ordered.

"Of course, Miss Luna" his voice breathed out. He slowly headed in my direction, purposely examining me from head to toe. I looked around for somewhere to room, but I was trapped. Aki was a couple feet in front of me when Shin caught my eye. Luna and him were staring at each other from across the room.

I screamed out when I turned my attention back to Aki, to see him standing right in front of me. He grabbed me from behind when I turned to run.

"Let go of me!" I cried out struggling. He lifted me up with ease, my feet swinging just above the ground.

"Let her go Aki!" Shin growled. Our eyes locked and I shook my head slowly.

_Don't get yourself killed, don't get yourself killed… _I repeated over and over again in my head. Dang it! Why did Luna have to come now!

"Shin, helping the enemy is strictly forbidden. You know that," Luna said tilting her head to the side. She analyzed Shin again.

"I know," Shin answered. He stood tall watching Luna's every move. I took note that his fingers were twitching, and noticed the hem of his shirt was gently moving as if in a breeze—Luna noticed it too.

"Threatening your Queen also is strictly forbidden," Luna stepped forward—her hands clasped behind her back. I struggled against Aki's hold.

"Shin! Don't!" I yelled at him.

"Aki, make her be quiet" Luna growled, glaring at me. Aki put a hand over my mouth, I trashed my legs trying to hit his soft spot—but not succeeding at all.

"You're not my Queen," Shin said. I gasped out beneath Aki's hand.

"I don't take need to follow your rules," he continued. I stared at Shin in horror. Does he not realize he's going to get himself hurt… or killed!

"Oh," Luna raised an eyebrow. "Well, when did you decide this?"

"When you started killing innocent people, and thinking you can do whatever you want too"

"I see," Luna said. She approached Shin, "You realize I'm going to have to dispose of you now"

Shin cracked his fingers and I cried out in shock. "I know,"

"Shin stop!" I tried to say. Shin ran at Luna, his fingers spreading as wind wiped around the room. My hair flew around violently as the force of the wind increased. Luna stood unmoving, her face completely impassive. The smells of burning plastic filled my nose as Shin activated his disintegrate Alice on Luna.

"You can't do anything to harm me. I'm a witch remember?" Luna said still impassive. She closed her eyes and moved her head to the left seconds before Shin's fist punched through the empty air. Luna continued to let him attempt to punch her—only moving a couple inches away from each attempt he made.

Shin growled and backed up a couple steps glaring hard at Luna. She cocked her head to the side and watched him. Seconds later, her stoic expression changed and she snapped her fingers. Shin immediately fell onto his knees clutching his head in agony.

I watched in horror as blood spilled out from the corners of his mouth. He was going to be killed! My mind started to race. Luna walked in front of Shin and looked down at him with amusement.

"How you feeling?" she smiled. Shin spat blood onto her white stilettos. Luna frowned and kicked Shin in the stomach—he flopped over and crawled away from her. He struggled to his feet with the help of his wind. Shin appeared to be floating with his Alice surrounding him.

He thrust out his arms—sending a wave of dust and air towards Luna. She was taken back and fell back into the wall. The candles flickered on their shelves and started going out one by one. A candle fell onto Luna, and Shin took his opportunity to send the flame spiraling over her. The flame began to eat away at her hair and her clothes.

Luna screamed out in rage and her eyes flashed as she looked at Shin. The flame snapped out and the smoke mixed into the rest of the burnt out candles and dust Shin had flying around the room. Luna and Shin disappeared inside the mass of dust and smoke. I squinted into the mess to make out any shapes. I jumped back as Luna's piercing bloody eyes cut through the haze. I bit down hard on Aki's hand, his grip on my faltered and I took my chance.

"Shin! Watch out!" I screamed. The bloody eyes turned their attention towards me and my throat went dry. Seconds later the eyes were hidden amongst the haze again.

When the smoke cleared away, Shin was lying on the floor in a fetal position. Blood seeping from his lips and he was struggling to breathe. I sucked in a shaky breath when our eyes met.

"_At least I would've died doing the right thing,"_

"No…" I breathed out horrified, I ran towards him quickly. "Shin!"

"Oh no you don't," Aki grabbed me from behind.

"NO! Let me go!" I cried. Tears soaked my cheeks as I reached out to touch him. Shin was wheezing now and the sound made me sick to my stomach. The puddle of scarlet the surrounded his head sent an eerie sense of deja vu through me.

"Poor you," Luna cooed, parting his hair. "Only 12 hours left to live"

I went numb all over. Now that's why this scene seems so familiar… he has the same curse put on him.

"Aki, go put him in the dungeon or something. I don't want to see him anymore" Luna scoffed.

Aki let go of me and I fell down to my knees. He walked over to Shin's body. Shin grunted as Aki picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. Luna turned away from me facing the door, Aki and Shin disappeared down the tunnel and the door swung shut. Luna still didn't move from her spot and my mind started racing again.

I have three options right now.

Let her hurt me and not use my Alice

Try and make a break for it through the door

Fight back

There's no way I'm just going to stand here and let her hurt me—NO WAY! If I made a run for it she would for sure beat me to it and kill me right then and there. That only leaves… fighting back. I clenched my teeth and narrowed my eyes. Luna still wasn't looking at me and I considered the advantages. She doesn't know I have Alice(s), and if I put up my nullification now, there's a good chance I'll be able to defend myself. I can heal myself if I get hurt too. Telepathy isn't really going to help me with fighting her. But I don't have anything to actually use to _fight_ with. My neck burned and my eyes widened. Watching Luna, I slowly raised my hand up to my pendant—I traced my finger over the different Alice stones. They burned as I touched them.

_Lets hope I'm actually right about this…_

I grabbed Natsume's stone and focused on the weight of it in my fingers and how it was searing my skin. My fingers grew warmer and tingles ran down my arm. I opened my eyes again to see the empty gold fastener between my fingers—the scarlet stone no longer there. My eyes widened, _I was right! _

I looked at my fingers. They were still fairly warm, actually… I felt warm all over. That was Natsume's Alice stone, which means I now have a fire Alice? I secretly smirked. I grabbed the light green and dark purple Alice stones and thought for a moment. Suddenly a tingle ran through me sending shivers up and down my arms.

_The light green is Teleportation and the dark purple is phasing (go through solid objects & make objects no longer be there—but keeping the illusion that it is)_.

I have no idea how I knew that but whatever. I focused on both stones and waited for the familiar feeling of the tingling. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw the empty gold fasteners. Guess I'm going to fight back after all, huh? Luna still seemed to be in deep thought so I activated my nullification around me—my skin glowing a light orange. I focused on Luna, but didn't put it around her yet. I wrapped myself in a bubbled so Luna wouldn't be able to notice me trying to use the fire Alice or the phasing. I stared at my fingers, _Fire_, I said in my head. My fingers flickered with heat but nothing happened. I tried again, but tried snapping my fingers like Natsume does sometimes.

My fingers sparked and I almost started giggling. I snapped again—more roughly this time—and a flame popped up on my fingertip.

_Oh, she's going to be surprised. _

I blew the flame out and tried to figure out how I would make phasing activate. Um, …separate? I said in my head. Nothing happened and I frowned. I thought about myself becoming light and separating into small pieces—but still being one.

_Now sink through the floor… _I thought. I pushed my heels into the ground, but nothing happened. I mentally sighed. _Oh! I know! _I focused on the floor becoming nothing and separating underneath me to allow me to go through. I dug my heels down and covered my mouth before I squeaked out in surprise. My foot started going into the tile and I pulled my foot back up and told the ground to go solid again. I gingerly put my foot down and relaxed when my foot touched the solid ground. I combed my fingers through my hair succeeding in getting the knots out—but there were still clumps of dried blood. I wiped my face off in an attempt to clean it. I watched Luna, I think she forgot about me…Luna snapped her head around and narrowed her eyes at me. Looks like I spoke to soon…

I put my nullification around Luna, but leaving a space so she wouldn't notice until she tried to use her power. I don't know if that will hold her power back or not though—she is a witch after all. That isn't an Alice.

"Well, well," Luna said walking towards me. The barrier around her moved with her—I watched her carefully, keeping my fingers at the ready. "It seems as though that boy was able to fade the spell a bit. But not to worry, I can put it back again"

"I don't think you can," I said walking away and around from her advancing on me. We circled each other like sharks.

Luna burst out laughing. "You stupid little girl. Of course I can!"

"Are you sure?" I smirked. She stopped laughing and watched me with a sudden interest.

"What makes you think I can't?" she asked me.

_I really hope my barrier works for witches too…_

"I don't think you can even hit me with 'one of your spells'"

Luna narrowed her eyes; "Your cockiness isn't cute"

I shrugged—doubling the layer of nullification around the both of us. "We'll see,"

"Yes," Luna said raising an eyebrow.

I positioned myself to jump away incase I needed to. My fingers pressed together ready to snap and light the flames. I hope it was easy to control. Luna pulled out her wand lightning fast and flicked it at me. I held myself back from flinching. I watched her expression change from doubt, to confusion. I smiled despite myself. She tried again and I put another layer around her.

"What the heck!" she screeched.

"Guess you can't, huh?" I said snapping my fingers together roughly. Flames spread from my fingertips down to the palm of my hand.

Luna's eyes widened. "Wha—"

_Please let the Alice stone have had instincts with it too… _I twisted my wrist the fire curling around my hand as my fingers caressed the flames. I threw the ball of fire like it was a Frisbee straight at Luna. She jumped out of the way as soon as she realized what was happening. But I managed to hit her leg in the process.

"That was so cool," I breathed.

Luna looked at me shocked. I composed myself quickly, and stared her down.

"Well, this is going to be more fun then I had thought it would've been," Luna scoffed.

Luna flicked her wand again and I threw a stream of fire at her. I ran around to the opposite end of the room, flickering my wrist as fast as I could. _She's too fast… _

Closing my eyes, I imagined Luna surrounded by a tall Ring of Fire. Let this work… Her screams answered my unsaid question and I slowly opened my eyes. She stood in the middle of a blazing fire and I watched as the heat of the flames burnt off her eyebrows. I snorted and thought of the ground becoming nothing underneath of her and her sinking into it like quick sand.

"What the—" Luna sunk down so her feet were completely hidden underneath the tile. I told the floor to go solid again—trapping Luna's feet underneath. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

Luna narrowed her eyes. "So how long have you had Alice?"

"The second day I was in the forest," I said walking around her. I added another layer of nullification to her.

"I can tell you're very powerful, even though you're new to using Alice"

I raised my fingers in case she tried doing anything. "What do you want?"

"How 'bout we make a deal?" Luna suggested.

"I'm not interested,"

"We could take over all the kingdom's! We could be the most powerful people to ever rule!"

"I don't want to,"

Luna sighed. "Looks like I'm going to have to go full out on this one,"

"Wha—"

Luna stretched out her arms and flicked her wand. The room was filled with a blinding bright light and I covered my face. I peered through the light to try to see if I could see anything. Piercing bloody red eyes greeted me and I fell back quickly. I searched through the white fog for a sign of her.

My barrier faltered as she jumped out of the fog. I crawled backwards as she ran towards me wielding her wand like a knife. Then seconds later, she actually had a knife in her hand. I lit both my palms up and joined the two fireballs into one bigger one. Aiming for her stomach, I sent the ball of fire hurtling towards her. It cut through the fog and sliced its way to her—hitting her directly in the stomach. Luna fell to the ground and I snapped my fingers again. I didn't feel the familiar warmth and I looked down.

"What?" I snapped my fingers—nothing was happening.

"You're not the only one who can prevent people from using powers," she said. I glanced up a moment to late, and I cried out in pain as Luna hit me across the face—sending me back to the ground.

I gasped out as she fell onto me; I struggled beneath her weight. After about 30 seconds of resisting, I got free from her grip. I cried out again as she dug the blade into the back of my knee. Tears threatened to spill out and I pulled my leg forward quickly, kicking her face in the process.

The fog cleared away and Luna stood in her 'other self'. I wearily watched her as she circled me.

"You know that deal I made with the handsome boyfriend of yours" She cooed.

"What?"

"That if he kills me the curse I put on you won't kill you anymore," Luna sang. "Well I also was haunting him in his dreams every night too! Giving him glimpses of your pain and crying out. It drove him mad!"

She started laughing and I clenched my teeth as she dug her knife down my arm. I tried using my healing Alice, but it didn't activate. A lone tear ran down my cheek.

"But I'm going to have so much more fun with you before I put the curse on you again!"

"Why can't I use my Alice's?" I gasped.

"That fog had a spell in it, as long as people breath it in, it's like they have bad air in them. Then until that 'bad air' leaves, their powers can't be activated"

I crawled away from her. "You're crazy"

She laughed, "I know! It's great!"

She took out her wand and began chanting different spells. I kept crawling backwards until my back hit the wall. Luna was slowly advancing on me still muttering spells. I cried out when she flicked her wand at me, my skin searing with hot flashes on pain. Rolling over on my side, I rubbed at my arms.

_You said you wouldn't just sit there and take her hurting you! _I yelled at myself. That's right Mikan, get up and fight back! I ordered myself. I propped myself carefully up on my elbows and pulled myself up. Luna was chanting another spell when I lounged at her.

We both screamed as we collided with one another and hit the floor. I pinned her to the ground and hit her like I had seen the soldiers do with the practice dummies.

"_Shazaam!" _Luna yelled. I was thrown off of her by an invisible force and I fell against the wall at the opposite side. Groaning, I coughed and rolled onto my side.

_That hurt…_

I coughed again and stared at the scarlet liquid that splattered onto the floor in front of me. My eyes widened and I started coughing again, more blood coming out.

Luna walked over towards me, she pointed her wand at me while wiping blood off her forehead.

"Let's hope Natsume gets here fast, ne? Only 4 hours left," she said. "_Kazlar!_"

My head hit the floor and I welcomed the all too familiar darkness.

*Natsume's POV*

Our horses zoomed along the dirt path—the wind rustling our clothing and our hair. Riding like this had to be one of the most exhilarating things I've ever felt. No horse could go this fast at all; it wasn't natural. This sure was a way to wake someone up and make them forget everything that was happening around them. Even if they were heading off to fight. Sighing, I looked out the corner of my eye and watched the blur of trees, and green. Oddly, even though we were moving extremely fast, we could still see like normal without the wind hurting our eyes. I grasped the reins with one hand as I brushed back my even messier raven locks.

"Brushing your hair won't make it less messy!" Ruka shouted at me.

I glanced over at him and scowled—I could hear him laughing as he pulled the horses reins and sped off to join Imai near the front of the caravan. I scanned the faces of the group; I could make out the familiar faces of our soldiers who stood guard in the castle. Tsubasa, Koko, Kitsuneme and Misaki were pulling ahead of me to join the front lines. I waited for them to pass by before I pulled out of my line, and went up to the front of the group along with the others.

"We're going to pull into that clearing, and eat!" Mochi turned and yelled back to everyone.

We all slowed our horses to a trot and turned onto a smaller dirt trail that led to a huge valley. I moved my horse to a sturdy looking tree and slide off.

"I'll tie your horse up Natsume-ouji,"

I turned around and looked at the boy who spoke—he was the one from before that handed me my saddle. Giving him the reins, I nodded and went to find the others. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I maneuvered myself around the on coming horses and soldiers.

My fingers started to tingle and I looked down. I wasn't using my Alice…? I stared confused at my flickering fingers. The tingling ran down my fingertips to my palm before it collected into a small flame and melted back into my palm.

_What the heck? _

My fingertips tingled again and I rubbed my hands together. Sparks flew and I muttered a curse.

_Please let the Alice stone have had instincts with it too… _

"Mikan…?" I said aloud. I turned around— nobody was talking to me. Flames licked at my fingers again and formed into a ball in my palm.

Then it hit me.

_Mikan's using my Alice stone… _My eyes widened at the realization. But how can she? She can't control fire? Unless… she can now. I squeezed my eyes shut—don't let her burn herself, I prayed. My fingers stopped tingling and I prayed that she was okay.

"Jeez…" I muttered. I narrowed my eyes and continued to study the valley. The trees on the dirt path made this place completely hidden from anyone's sight. After a couple seconds, I spotted a group of people sitting on a fallen tree trunk. I jogged up to the group of teens and sat down next to Ruka.

"Hey Natsume! I thought you got lost for awhile," Tsubasa laughed.

"Shut up Shadow," I glared at him. "I was tying my horse up"

"Sure, sure"

I scowled at him and grabbed a sandwich from an open picnic basket. _Ham and cheese_, I thought as I bit into it. I devoured 3 sandwiches before I listened in on what everyone was talking about.

"…Yeah, I heard some guys talking about how this guy from the last resting place was leaving and heading back home" Koko said.

"Whoa are you serious?" Misaki asked.

"Yup, apparently he couldn't take it anymore"

"But we only have half an hour of riding left! We're almost there!" Tsubasa yelled.

"I heard that he was going back to take care of his mom," Kitsuneme said.

"I don't believe that. He didn't even seem like he wanted to fight in the first place," Ruka muttered.

"Who are you talking about?" I questioned.

Everyone looked at me at once. "This guy who left at the last resting place, to go back home"

I frowned as everyone started arguing why he left. "Do any of you actually _know_ why?"

They all looked at me again. "No,"

I heaved a sigh; "Of course you don't,"

"Do you know who's Kingdom he was from?" I asked.

"No, I think I heard someone say Nogi," Kitsuneme ran a hand through his hair.

"I heard Andou," Imai blankly said.

"Same," Ruka nodded at Imai.

"I heard he was from Hyuuga," Tsubasa muttered.

_No one knows anything…_ I sighed to myself. I grabbed a bottle of water and gulped it down.

"Everyone, back on the horse!" Mochi yelled from across the field.

We all stood up and started back across the field. I stopped to grab the basket of food—taking out a couple carrot sticks. _The horse must be starving too… gosh; I'm going soft._

The group of us jogged to our horses. I set the carrots on my palm and let the horse lick them off—he swallowed them a couple seconds later. I pulled myself onto the horse and grasped the reins, pulling them free from the knot.

"Hyuuga," I looked down at the Ice queen. "Put this on the horse's leg, It'll add to the speed of the horse"

I took the sticker from her and watched her toss stickers at all the other soldiers. _Hmm, looks like we'll get their sooner. _I placed the sticker onto its leg and let the horse join back into the caravan as we left the valley. Our horses slowly picked up speed and I watched the scenery change from trees to blurs of green again.

I wrapped the reins around my wrists and sat there silently watching everything. Mikan would have loved to see something like this. Well, not go to fight—but to see the scenery. I closed my eyes and pictured her face—her beautiful hazel eyes, long chestnut hair, her amazing smile. The 'dream' I had the other day popped into my head and the smell of strawberries filled my nose. I shook the thought from my head before I ended up falling off my horse and killing myself. Despite shaking my head, Mikan's sick like face appeared before my eyes and my anger returned. I was going to enjoy hurting Luna for what she did to Mikan.

"Hey Nat," I looked over at Ruka—raising my eyebrow.

"You had a really scary expression for a sec." He muttered.

"Ah…" I blinked, "I was thinking about something"

"I figured. You know you don't have to battle her yourself, right?"

"I have to though,"

"If this is some—"

"No, I mean. Luna and I made a deal, if I kill her, Mikan lives"

His eyes widened. "What?"

"Didn't I tell you? About the dreams," I took his expression as a 'no'. "She said she was going to put a curse on her, like I told you guys. But the only way to lift it is to kill Luna—and it has to be me"

"What are you going to do?"

"Kill her obviously" I grunted.

Ruka rolled his eyes. "Hey, when you were mad the other day… did you talk to Luna?"

"Hn,"

"Come on, tell me"

"Yeah, but I also seen Mikan—healthy,"

"You saw her in your dream?"

"It wasn't a 'dream' it was real… like another reality or something. But at the end, she got sick,"

"I'm sorry, Nat. we'll get there in time to save her,"

"I hop—"

"Everyone! Stop!" Mochi commanded. Our horses automatically stopped completely and silence engulfed the huge group. Mochi motioned to the tress and we all moved our horses into the bushes.

Then I realized what was going on. I stared through the mess of trees, about 500 meters away was the gate to the Sakura Kingdom. My mouth went dry and my heart rate started to race.

_Were here. _I thought.

"…Okay, I want everyone to tie their horses up. We're walking the rest of the way," Mochi instructed.

I mentally slapped myself and slide off the horse—tying him to the tree I gave him another carrot. Giving myself a second to drink another water bottle before I jogged to join the group.

"Activate your bracelets, we don't want to be seen"

I pressed the scarlet stone and felt the pinch before I become invisible to everyone—which didn't have their bracelet on at least. We continued to walk through the forest until we reached the stone wall that marked the border of the kingdom. Mochi motioned to climb over and I grabbed onto a stone, testing to make sure it was sturdy. I heaved myself onto the wall and grabbed another stone. The stone crumbled in my grasp and I swore. I reached up and hooked my fingers around another stone. I pulled myself up—my legs dangling in the air, I looked for another rock to put my foot on. I grumbled when I didn't see any.

Digging my toes into the wall—I grabbed the stone firmly with one hand and pushed myself up, holding onto another stone further up. I continued to pull myself up unto my foot was resting on the stone my hands had been on. I grabbed the ledge of the wall and threw my leg over. Straddling the wall, I waited for the rest of the group to get up before I jumped down to the other side.

"Go kill as many as you can without being discovered," Mochi whispered. "I'll wait for everyone to climb over—all 3,050 of 'em"

I nodded in understanding and grabbed out my knife out from my boot. The soldiers looked at me for instructions and I told them what Mochi had told me—everyone went in separate directions, but still heading towards the Palace. I looked up and stared at the Palace that stood on the hill. I narrowed my eyes when movement on the hill caught my attention—I grabbed my binoculars and looked again.

There on the top of the hill was a huge group of soldiers—about 3,000 of 'em. I cursed under my breath. Had we been discovered? I radioed the group that had climbed the wall with me and told them to come back. I ran back to the wall.

"Mochi," I tapped his shoulder, "We have 3,000 Koizumi coming this way"

Mochi snapped the binoculars from my hands and looked. He cursed under his breath.

"Does anyone have a hearing Alice!" Mochi looked at the group of soldiers that had surrounded him.

"I do sir!" the boy that had helped me twice came up.

"What are they saying?"

The boy looked over at the top of the hill and narrowed his eyes. "They're talking about waiting for Luna's instructions to leave. They think it's stupid that they have to go attack the Hyuuga kingdom right now,"

Our eyes widened. "What else?" I asked.

"They… they said that Luna looked really angry after returning from seeing the sakura princess. They say that she was muttering about being 4 hours left," he paused "3 and a half hours now"

My face paled, "She only has 3 and a half hours left?"

The boy nodded, "They're talking about just leaving to your kingdom now, without waiting for Luna"

My face darkened and I looked over at Mochi. He nodded at me and turned towards our huge group, he grabbed someone with telepathy and told him to tell the all of our soldiers that the plan was to keep our bracelets on, kill as many of them as we can. Once we get discovered just keep killing, and then you can use the really noticeable things. The soldier nodded and he activated his Alice. The rest of the soldiers nodded their heads too and we all ran towards the hill.

I grasped the handle of my knife and made sure I was holding it away from me as I ran. Pressing myself against a crumbled building, I held my breath as two Koizumi passed by me. I checked to make sure no one else was coming before I grabbed the closest Koizumi and covered his mouth. He barely was able to scream before I was throwing his body into the empty building. I stalked the other Koizumi and hit him from behind—he fell over and I covered his mouth, before I dug my knife into his flesh.

"Ugh," I groaned. I took his body and dragged it back to the building the other body was in.

I saw a couple of our soldiers running behind a group of Koizumi. The Koizumi each fell as their throat was split. I turned away as they pulled their bodies off the street. Following the road, I saw another Koizumi. Grasping the knife, I pulled my arm back and threw it like a dart straight at him. I grimaced when I got a bull's eye—literally. I ran up to him and pulled him between two building. I pulled my knife free from his eye and wiped the blood on his shirt.

I sprinted up the road towards the big clearing of what used to be the market. I turned in each direction—a Koizumi was being stalked by one of our soldiers already on 2 of the different paths. Stepping onto the rumble of what used to be a fountain—I looked down another path. Two Koizumi caught my eye and I ran towards them. I grabbed my other knife and like a trained assassin took them both out like I did with the last one.

I continued along the road—ending up 200 meters from the Palace courtyard. My eyes widened as I saw most of our soldiers fighting one on one with Koizumi. _Looks like we've been discovered, _I thought. I wiped the blades of my knives off and set them in my belt. Pressing the scarlet stone, my expression darkened as I activated my fire Alice and became visible to everyone.

I set a group of on coming Koizumi on fire and turned around and set another group to burn. I charged at a Koizumi who was trying to sneak behind one of the Sakura soldiers. We both fell to the ground and he struggled to push me off. I punch his jaw.

"Damn you," he spat.

I growled and hit him again. He kicked his legs out and hit my shin. Surprised, I loosened my grip on him. He pushed me over and punched my face. I grasped his fist, holding him back—I activated my Alice and the flames slowly ate away at his skin and clothing. He screamed and let go of me—I ignored him as he fell to the ground in an attempt to stop the flames.

"…Okay" I mumbled.

Wiping the blood off my mouth, I ran closer up to the Palace. I saw the rest of the soldiers there fighting and sprinted to help. My flames roared across the pavement keeping Koizumi from going to the fight too. A couple of our soldiers used their Alices to kill the rest of the Koizumi that weren't injured from the fire.

Blood was splattered every where on the pavement and the soldiers were all sprinkled with drops of blood. I looked down at my arms to see sprinkles of blood on me. Wiping the blood off, to make myself feel less like some crazed killer, I headed towards where Mochi was fighting a bunch of people.

I got two Koizumi off his back and knocked them out. Letting my flames finish them off.

"I got this!" Mochi yelled at me—running at a couple more Koizumi. "Go find the Princess!"

"Okay!" I yelled.

Sprinting along the courtyard, I headed to the Palace doors and stopped—I retraced my steps and thought back to our bond.

"Oh, I'm such an idiot!" I yelled.

I closed my eyes and thought about Mikan—I felt the tug of the silver thread and I opened my eyes. Following it back around the castle, I ran towards the temple on the top of the hill. I jumped over bodies of soldiers and increased my speed. When I reached the temple, I slid around the wet grass and followed the thread down over the opposite end of the hill.

A small wooden door hidden in the bushes caught my attention and I quickly opened it. I poked my head inside and waited for my eyes to adjust. I jumped down and lit my fire—instructing it to float above me as I ran.

I thought about the dreams Luna made me have.

_I looked around at the dark hallway in front of me. Her voice screamed in my mind and her pain caused me to collapse against the dirt wall._

"_Damn bastard!" I gritted my teeth and ran on through the tunnel. I was going to murder them once I found her!_

_Her screams continued to echo in my head. I finally reached the end of the tunnels and entered another section where the hall split into 5 different ways. Which way! I growled in my head._

_I forced a mental block in my mind and allowed my mind find which way it was to her. An invisible tread of silver pointed me to the first tunnel and I sprinted down the dirt corridor. I passed old cells and my fear grew when I heard her screams echo through the dirt walls._

I stared at the dirt tunnel I was in. _Were the dreams giving me a map to lead me to her? _

I followed the thread through the tunnel. I stopped when I reached the section with the 5 different tunnels—the silver thread headed through the first tunnel and I sprinted down the hall.

_Mikan, I'm almost there! _

I stared at the different doors as I ran by—ignoring each of them. They weren't the right doors. I reached the end of the tunnel and I froze as a wooden door at the end of the hall came into view. I slowly started to walk towards it before I full out sprinted.

"Mikan!" I yelled when I reached the door. I tried the handle but it wouldn't budge. Throwing my shoulder against it, I pushed against the door.

"Dang it!"

I ran at the door and put my full body weight against it. It cracked and sprinkles of wood showered against the side of my face. I hit it again and the door cracked down the middle. Getting frustrated, I activated my Alice and pressed my hands against the wood. It turned to ashes beneath my touch.

I took a deep breath and entered into the room—feeling Mikan's Alice stone around my neck. My eyes widened when I saw Mikan's body lying on the floor at the opposite side of the room.

"Mikan!" I yelled. I ran towards her and dropped to my knees. She was a mess; I caressed her cheek and stared at the palm of my hand as they were now covered in blood. Every where on her, there was blood. My mouth went dry and I felt for her pulse.

I waited and felt the faint thump of her heart. I leaned my forehead against hers and squeezed her against me.

"Hello Natsume,"

Grimly, I lifted my head and turned to look behind me—still holding Mikan's body close to me.

"Luna"

"I'm so glad you could join us," She smiled. "Let's get started, ne?"

She snapped her fingers and Mikan's body disappeared from my grasp. Slowly I stood up.

"Bring it on," I said.

* * *

**Well Natsume's finally there! Next chapter is probably going to be a long one again. But I have exams again soon :( So updates will be really late.**

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	25. Chapter 25

**Hey guys! I can't believe that Learning to Survive has finished—well I still have to put the epilogue up, but I'll wait until later today to do that. **

**It looks like BITE ME is in the lead still, so unless that changes bite me will be my next story! **

**Enjoy this chapter you guys—it's the second last one! Sorry for the late update—I'm finally done school now 'til September *starts cheering* **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 25:**

* * *

*Natsume's POV*

"_Hello Natsume,"_

_Grimly, I lifted my head and turned to look behind me—still holding Mikan's body close to me._

"_Luna"_

"_I'm so glad you could join us," she smiled. "Let's get started, ne?"_

_She snapped her fingers and Mikan's body disappeared from my grasp. Slowly I stood up._

"_Bring it on,"_

I clenched my fists and stared harshly at Luna from across the room.

"It's so nice to finally see you in person" Luna chimed.

"I wish I could say the same" I responded.

"Ohh," she hummed. "Too bad…"

Narrowing my eyes, I watched Luna drag her finger across the wall as she idly made her way towards me. Her hair appeared to be growing red under the light of the hundreds of candles illuminating the room. I looked from the corner of my eye to where Mikan had been lying just a couple seconds ago. Blood still covered the floor.

"Where did you send her to?" I asked—looking back at Luna.

"Another realm," she stated, heading back towards the door. She looked back at me, "Don't worry she'll be able to leave IF you defeat me. Hopefully she isn't dead by then…"

Luna giggled at my dark expression. "Let's hope not, ne, Natsume? Only 3 hours left"

"Wh—"

Luna interrupted me, "And not even magic nor Alice can break in the realm!"

My eyebrow twitched and I squeezed the bridge of my nose to control myself from lashing out—which is just what she wants. Instead, I focused on Mikan and tried to use our bond to find her. The delicate silver thread—invisible to Luna—stretched out in front of me and headed towards the ceiling. My heart rate faltered as the tug of the silver thread was cut loose and it floated down softly to the ground.

_The only time I really needed the bond…_

"To have it not work" I breathed. Luna watched me blankly from where she perched by the door. I glared at her—what the heck is she doing?

"Let's do this already!" I hissed.

She clapped her hands and jumped up—stretching her arms behind her head. Her pearly whites flashed and I narrowed my eyes.

"I thought you'd never ask" she whispered sweetly. Swinging her hair over her shoulder as it began to grow and take on the color of a bloody red. Luna eyed me with striking ultramarine and bright scarlet eyes. The colors mixing into one and then reversing to her right and left eyes both the single solid color of the ultramarine and scarlet.

"Wha—" I looked at her confused. In the dreams her eyes were only ultramarine—but, why is one of them scarlet…?

"Hello Natsume~"Luna—I mean her other self said tilting her head to the side, her lips non-moving.

"Ahhh~ It feels so good to be out to play again!" She said again, still smiling.

_This is different from the dreams. What am I missing…?_

I studied Luna quickly—pale skin, each eye a different color, long scarlet hair. She seemed more like a monster then a witch. Maybe, her 'witch side' has another side too—

**Slap!**

Stunned, I quickly fell backward, staring up at the woman standing before me. I brushed my fingers over my burning cheek.

"Don't ignore me!" She screeched. She was grasping a narrow piece of solid wood, the little carvings in the wood drawing shadows against her fingertips.

_Her wand I presume._

"_Blathx!" _Her wand snapped in my direction. My eyes widened and I rolled out of the way just as a giant ball of electricity was sent flying through the air. I pulled my foot back just as the ball landed against the spot I had just been sitting at. Once the flash of light had faded—I uncovered my eyes and stared at the burn mark in the tiles.

"What the hell!" I shouted at her. Luna stood panting; she narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand back at me. I jumped back again as she threw another at me.

"Fine, if you want to play that way," I called up my fire and both my palms lit up in a burning inferno. Joining my hands together, I sent the flaming ball towards Luna—telling it to grow hotter and stronger as it got closer to her. She tried dodging a moment to late, and I raised my hand to block out the explosion of bright light. The heat radiated back at me and I opened my eyes.

"Hahaha…"

I stared at Luna shocked—her eyebrows were completely burnt off, and her once designer dress had new patterns from the burn marks. It would have been funny if she wasn't laughing like a psycho or if her fingers weren't radiating electricity like one of those balls you see at the science fairs.

Before she could try anything, I sent another ball of flames at her and made a wall of fire so big my parents would be proud. I watched the flames for any sign of movement, but I couldn't see through. Muttering a bunch of curses, I walked backward until I felt the wall at my back.

"Haha…"

I studied the flame wall, trying to locate from where her voice was coming from. Movement out of the corner of my eye had me turning my head back to the space directly in front of me. There was a bright light breaking through the flames. I looked closer and saw a hand coming from the other side.

"Oh Shi—" I stopped mid curse as Luna began walking through the wall of fire—A bright light surrounding her. The wall of flames flickered out to nothing when she had completely crossed.

"Now that wasn't nice, Natsume" she smiled.

"I wasn't trying to be" I replied, lighting my hands with flames again.

"Well I guess I'll need to teach you a lesson!"

Her electric fingers pointed at me and I sent a wave of fire towards her. The electricity and fire mixed between us—crackling and popping, before it separated and continued to their original targets. I was jolted back against the wall as the electricity entered my body. My fists had clenched so hard; I could feel my nails tearing the skin of my palm apart. I grunted as the electricity finally grounded itself and I fell to the broken tile floor.

I could hear Lunas slowed footsteps as she walked towards me and I raised my head to glare at her. She tched and folded her arms across her chest.

"I thought you said you would beat me?" she said, "Poor little Mikan, alone, and dying—"

"I WILL beat you!" I growled. Shakily, I pulled myself up to my knees then grabbed onto the wall to pull myself to standing position.

"Well to me it looks like your losing" Luna shrugged.

"We're just getting started!" I hissed, "I'm not letting you win"

Luna smirked, "Well then fight me like you mean it!"

"Fine!" I yelled, running straight at her—fire curling up my arms.

*Mikan's POV*

"_Where am I?"_

_I looked around at the faded grey colors of the space around me. It looked to be some kind of old swamp—there was a small pond to my left, with depressing trees sulking over the green water. Fog covered everything, to the point where I couldn't see past 10 feet in front of me. I stood up shakily, pulling the reeds off of my ankles; I looked around for a way out of the weird swamp. _

_The four moons are the only source of light, I thought looking up at the sky. Wait four moons? I stood staring at the sky, my mouth hanging open. _

"_Where am I" I breathed. The wind rustled the leaves and I started walking through the giant reeds, the feeling of them on my legs giving me goosebumps. I pushed past the first tree and stepped onto an old dirt road—it looks like it hasn't been touched in hundreds of years._

"_Hello?" I called into the night._

_No answer. _

_I looked at the road; either I go left or I go right. I peered into the darkness; I couldn't see anything down either side. _

"_Which way…" I gnawed on my lip. Maybe to the right, 'cause then I'm right… I laughed at my stupid joke. Then I stopped and shook my head. _

"_No time for being stupid, I need to know where I am," I started walking down the road; jumping out of my skin each time the wind would rustle the leaves. "Stupid Luna"_

_I turned around when I heard a twig snapping—I searched through the darkness of the trees for a sign of anything or anyone. _

"_It's just your imagination, Mikan" I whispered rubbing my hands together. My back tingled and I ignored the feeling of being watched. Continuing to walk along the road, I narrowed my eyes as I tried to make out any shapes in front of me. I turned around sharply when I heard another twig snapping; breathless, I searched the road and then the tree line—I didn't move until my breathing returned to normal._

"_Doo de doo…" I nervously hummed. _

"_I take this road…" I looked around me as I picked up my pace. "…Towards you, doo de doo, doo"_

"_Don't know where I'm going but you'll be there… to hold my hand, I know you will" I gnawed my lip trying to remember the rest of the lines. I wiped the tear off my cheek—Dad would've been able to tell me, I thought. Sniffling, I continued along the path ignoring all thoughts of my dad's lullaby and whatever was snapping the twigs. _

_I stopped when I saw a dark shape in the distance in front of me. Slowly, I made my way as quiet as I could towards it. I felt like a legit ninja or spy or something—minus the scariness of everything. When I was about 30 feet away from it, I could make out the shape of a big gate. Cocking my head to the side, I studied it further, letting my eyes adjust to the dim lighting. _

"_What's a gate doing in a place like this?" I questioned before I walked towards it. The old iron fencing felt rusty beneath my fingertips and I pushed lightly against the gate. It swung gently opening, slightly creaking in its hinges. I turned around studying the road from which I had came; before I stepped through the gate and listened to the click noise the gate made as it swung back into place._

_Walking further into the mess of tall grass. The moons were beginning to set… I don't think that's normal. But I don't think I'm at home anymore—and the sky was beginning to light up, granting me better vision of where I was. I turned around and looked back at the gate. There was something written above it, but half of it was covered in dirt—I walked up to it and wiped the dirt away._

'_Cherry Grove'_

_Cherry Grove, I thought. That sounds pretty. I turned around cheerily and the smile faded off my face as I stared towards the distance in front of me._

_I was standing on top of a hill over looking one of the biggest valleys probably in the whole universe. From as far as my eye could see tall, beautiful sakura trees were blooming throughout the entire valley. I followed the valley with my eyes towards the horizon where a huge Palace stood proud. Where I was standing, I couldn't really see the details of the Palace, but it seemed to look like it was made of a pink ice colored marble, with gleaming towers that looked to be covered in green with small spots of color littering it._

"_Wow," I breathed. I pinched my arm to make sure I wasn't dreaming. _

"_Owww!" I whined. "Not dreaming… but I should be dying right now, shouldn't I?"_

_That's right, Luna had that curse put on me. I probably don't have that much time left, so why do I feel like I normally do?_

"_Mikan" _

_I whirled around and came face to face with Oracle._

"_Oracle!" I gasped, "You scared me!"_

_Oracle smiled, her pale blue eyes gleaming as she inspected me. I smiled back—it was nice to see a familiar face. She was wearing the prettiest pink dress I've ever seen. It was fitted to her curves and went down to her knees, the rest of her legs looked like a swirling ball of fog, forming into separate legs every couple of minutes then back to fog._

"_I see you've finally unlocked the power inside you," she said floating towards me to press her finger above my heart. Her long silver hair was lying against her back, lightly moving with an invisible breeze as she twirled back around to face the valley._

"_How did you know?" I asked her._

"_I've been watching you for a very long time, Daughter Mikan" Oracle spoke, "Ever since your parents brought you into this world. I knew there was something special about you,"_

"_Do you know what it is?" She asked me._

"_I don't know what it's called…" I began slowly, "but I can make stones—I mean Alice stones go inside me and use them. But I could also tell what they were by just touching them"_

"_What that is apart of is an Alice called S.E.C, you can Steal, Erase, and copy others Alices. But you can also insert them into yourself or others. Telling what each stone is, is just something that comes along with S.E.C" Oracle informed me. "What you've already experienced is the insertion"_

"_S.E.C Alice, huh?" I whispered looking out over the valley._

"_Do you like it?" Oracle asked me, motioning to the valley._

_I nodded my head eagerly. "It's beautiful"_

"_I've been taking care of it for years after I became ruler of this realm" Oracle murmured._

"_Ruler?" I asked stunned._

"_Yes, I am the Queen of Cherry, also known as Oracle. Welcome to my home, Daughter Mikan"_

"_Wow," I breathed._

"_Thank you for helping me so many times, Oracle" I bowed to her._

_I heard her lightly giggling at me and I stood up straight—slightly blushing. "No need to bow to me, Daughter Mikan. Now, how would you like to see my Palace?"_

"_I would love too"_

_*Time Skip*_

_I was standing outside of the huge Palace—and boy was it huge. The Palace was made from some kind of pink ice colored stone, and from the feel of it, I'd say it really was marble. The gleaming towers were covered in an overgrown vine of some sort, with beautiful flowers blooming all along it._

_We stepped into the Palace and the smells of vanilla and sakura petals greeted me. I breathed deeply in and followed Oracle along the grey tiled floor, my reflection clearly visible. We headed towards the back of the Palace and I stared amazed at the wonderful artwork on the ceilings of each room—each of them telling a different story. Oracle led me through another big set of doors and we were once again outside._

"_There's something I would like to show you," Oracle said looking up at the sky. "After that I will explain"_

_She led me through a rose garden with about 3 dozen different colored roses. I went towards a rose the color of a lush yellow and smelled it._

"_Are these real?" I asked._

"_Yes, 100%"Oracle smiled._

"_Wow" I said, walking away from the flowers back to Oracle._

_We continued walking along a path until we reached an opening of a wide clearing. The only thing here was a giant, mystical Sakura tree. Breathless I walked up to it, Oracle trailing behind me. I pressed the palm of my hand against the rough bark and the wind wiped around me, covering me in a small sphere like shape surrounded by sakura petals. Holding my free hand out, I put it gently into the mix of wind and sakura petals. They caressed my fingers and I smiled softly._

"_Does it remind you of anything?" Oracle asked, stepping inside the shell of sakura petals beside me._

"_No—"I stopped mid-sentence._

_*Flashback*_

…_My orbs widened when the wind whipped around us covering us in a shell of sakura petals. My hair hid my face and the heat above my elbow intensified. Then before we could say anything the wind stilled and nothing moved._

_*End of Flashback*_

_I lifted up my sleeve and stared at the sakura tattoo. "What…?" _

"_Your grandfather may have marked you when you and Natsume were at his Sakura tree and left you with a tattoo of the tree from back home. But this tree is connected to you as well," Oracle said._

"_You see, my realm and yours are perfectly aligned. Where this tree is here, is where Natsume's sakura tree is back in your realm. It's how I was able to leave my realm and come to yours, to watch over you" she murmured, "And this tree and your sakura tree will be the key to unlocking everyone's memories of you and Natsume in the past"_

"_No way," I breathed. I stared up at the tree watching the petals fall gently to the ground—I caught one in my palm and felt its softness between my fingertips. _

"_So I'm no longer in my realm?" I asked, "Is that why I don't feel any pain from Luna's curse?"_

"_Yes, to both of your questions. But Daughter Mikan…" Oracle's eyes softened, "you're still dying. You only do not feel it"_

_I gulped, "I know,"_

"_Is there anyway I can get rid of it?" I asked her._

_She shook her head slowly; "You have to pray for Natsume to defeat Luna, it's the only way"_

_I lifted my head towards the heavens and closed my eyes. "Please Natsume…"_

*Natsume's POV*

I grunted from the impact of the hard wall. My eyes widened when I heard the sick crack of my arm breaking—I cried out despite myself, coughing up a handful of blood in the process. I covered my mouth as I continued to cough up the disgusting scarlet liquid.

My eyes squeezed shut as I pulled my arm back to the front of my body—the bone sticking out at the wrong angle. I grimly looked at my right arm— it was definitely broken.

_My left arm better be able to do the job…_

"Giving up already?" Luna asked.

"Like hell I am," I growled wincing. Cradling my arm to my chest, I stood up with help from the wall.

Luna narrowed her eyes. "I see"

We stared at each other for a few moments—silence filled the room, the flickering of the candles the only noise. My eyebrow twitched as I realized; the candles were lit by fire.

_Fire. This whole room is filled with fire…_

I almost started smiling. Quickly, I connected myself to each tiny flame burning on a candle.

_Wait 'til I say to come… _I spoke to the hundreds of tiny flames. Luna started picking at her nails and I watched her closely as I rapidly tore my shirt off and made a sling type thing with the cloth—keeping my right arm squeezed to my chest. Ignoring the pain, I summoned a fireball in my left palm and watched as it grew into the size of two—I tossed it at Luna while she was still picking at her nails. The ball of fire was silent as it sliced through the air; I didn't dare breath as I told it to grow and it did—still making no noise, until it hit Luna with a bang.

"KYYAAA!" Luna screeched.

I tried looking past the bright explosion of flames but couldn't see anything. Stepping forward, I lit another fireball and sent it hurdling towards the spot Luna had been standing—which was now a giant burning inferno. The heat licked my legs and I backed up against the wall once again. I spat out a mouthful of blood and eyed the fire. My eyes widened when I saw a figure standing up from the fire. I inwardly groaned, as Luna stood up covered in flames, still not visible—but who else could it be? The figure lifted their arm and a bright light engulfed the room. I covered my eyes and opened them a moment later. Luna stood where she had been before—her bloody red hair almost completely gone except for random strands, her designer dress was completely ruined, holes were everywhere and it was barely covering her. The bottom of her dress still had live sparks flashing in and out. Her pale skin was bright red, and in some spots the skin was peeling or gone. I looked away from her body and to her face, which seemed to be the worst. All the hair on her face was obviously gone, and her whole face was peeling away.

"YOU!" She screeched harshly. Her lips looked wrong and I lit my palm up again as she started advancing toward me. I wish I never knew what the smell of burnt skin smelled like—but now it was all I could smell as she stood barely a foot away.

I sent my fire at her but she reflected it with a quick flick of her wand.

"Oh crap," I gasped as my fire was sent back hurdling towards me. I called the fire off but it was no longer in my control. My eyes widened in horror and I dropped to the ground seconds before the fire landed against the wall. Candles fell down onto me and I stopped them from burning out quickly.

The wood crackled and I looked up a moment to late—a piece of the burning wall peeled off and fell down onto me. I struggled to get the heavy wood off me before I was burnt alive. Luna strode towards me and pressed her foot onto the wood holding it down in place. I grunted from the pressure—grimacing as the fire slowly ate away the wood from the inside getting closer each second to my bare chest. Luna laughed down at me and I pushed against the wood as best I could.

"Mikan only has a couple minutes left! Looks like you lost!" Luna cried out. I stopped struggling for a couple seconds as this dawned on me.

_Mikan! _I squeezed my eyes shut and called upon the candles.

_Okay, come to me, I want you to surround Luna and stay on her as long as you can. _I instructed the tiny flames. Opening my eyes, I watched as each flame left their candle and made their way towards Luna. In an instant the flames were all over Luna and she fell back flailing her arms. I rolled the wood off me, and kneeled watching Luna as she ran around the room.

_I only have a few moments before she stops panicking and uses her magic again. _

A gleaming object caught my eye and I looked down at my boots. My heart beat faltered for a second as I saw the knife in my boot. Quickly, I grasped the handle and pulled it out.

_Luna doesn't know I have this, I have an advantage… _My eyes widened and I quickly stood up. Grasping the knife in my left hand, I watched Luna pat herself where there were flames.

_Don't hurt me _I told the fire on Luna.

Ignoring my broken arm, I charged at Luna. She looked up and our eyes met for a second before I plunged my knife directly into her heart. Her eyes changed back into their normal azure blue and she slowly went limp in my grasp.

"Thank…you" she gasped before her eyes rolled back into her skull. I called upon my fire and let the flames eat away her body, leaving nothing of Luna. I dropped my arm to my side and breathed out deeply.

"It's over," I said staring around at the destroyed room. "Luna's dead…"

"Mikan!" I yelled out after realizing what killing Luna had meant. I looked around the room for any sign of her.

_The thread had gone to the ceiling when I tried using the bond_.

I stared up at the ceiling and my eyes widened as a tear in the ceiling appeared. Mikan's body dropped through a moment later and I quickly caught her with my left arm and fell to the ground. She lay limp against me and I stared at her still face.

"Mikan?" I whispered. She didn't respond and my heart beat faltered. Did I not beat Luna in time?

"Mikan?" I called again. I pressed my ear over her heart and held my breath, waiting to hear her heart beat—waiting… and waiting. Nothing happened. After a couple moments, I lifted my head up off her chest slowly. My fingers shakily brushed hair off her face.

"Mikan…" I said into her face, "Please… open your eyes, please"

My throat burned as I fought back the urge to cry. I dropped my head back down over her heart—begging inside my mind.

_Please Mikan, I can't lose you… Please open your eyes. Mikan…_

*Mikan's POV*

"_Oracle," I said looking back at her._

"_What is it, Mikan?" she asked._

"_What happens if Luna isn't defeated?"_

_Oracle looked past me towards the Sakura tree. "Then… you wouldn't be going back—and you wouldn't be staying here"_

_I gulped and made a fist over my heart. "Then what would happen to me?"_

"_You'd be up in the heavens with your parents and everyone else…" Oracle whispered gently._

"_Ohh—" I stopped and my eyes went wide. A bright light enveloped me and I cried out as it burnt against my flesh—then it was gone._

"_What was that!" I cried. Oracle watched me with a worried expression._

_**Mikan…Mikan, please open your eyes…**_

"_Natsume?" I said wide-eyed—looking around me._

_Oracle looked at me. "He's calling you. It's time that you go back to him now,"_

"_Natsume…? I can go back?" _

"_Yes,"_

"_But what about you?"_

"_I'll be fine, go now Mikan, you're worrying him sick. I'll always be watching over you…" Oracle smiled. She walked towards me and made a cross in front of me._

"_Goodbye, Daughter" she said._

_My eyes went wide as I was dragged up into the sky lightning fast—I watched Oracle, as she became a tiny dot on the ground in a matter of seconds. My eyes closed as I was covered in light once again. I opened them to see my body on the ground with Natsume; quickly, I was pulled down into my body._

Slowly, I opened my eyes and crinkled my nose at the smell of smoke. I shifted in his grip and looked up to see him lying against my chest.

"Natsume…" I whispered. He tensed on my chest and lifted his head up—our eyes locked and I gave him a tiny smile.

"Mikan…" he breathed. "Oh thank god, I thought I had lost you"

He squeezed me to him and I pulled him closer to me—ignoring the pain covering my body. He pulled back slightly, looking into my hazel eyes; I looked back at him, giving him a tiny smile. Natsume leaned down, pressing his tender lips against mine. We pulled apart and he gave me a dazzling smile, which I couldn't help but stare.

"What is it?" he asked me—confusion evident in his voice.

"Nothing," I whispered—giving him a small smile. I winced from the pain of doing so.

"Oww, forgot that I had injuries" I grumbled. I caressed my right rib with my tender hand.

"We have to get you back outside," he stated. He put his arm under me and went to lift me up—he took a sharp inhale and set me gently down.

"Wha—?" I slide carefully off his lap careful of my wounds. I could use my Alice but I'm not going to waste anymore of my energy. Then I realized he was shirtless and my cheeks went bright red.

"Hey why are you—" I froze when I saw the cloth holding his arm to his body. "Oh my gosh…"

I lifted my tired arms and gently untied his sling—I took one look at his arm and quickly turned my head away.

"Oh Natsume," I looked up at him—he kept his face completely blank to keep me from being scared. I looked back down at his arm and saw how wrong it looked—it was already starting to get badly bruised; he needed help…

_Forget not using my Alice—I need to fix his arm!_

I put my hands gently on his arm and called upon my healing Alice. My arms turned blue and Natsume's did as well—at least I'm getting something from this too…

"Wait Mikan! You're hurt, and using your Alice will make you more weak!" Natsume quickly said.

"Too late," I breathed—I squeezed my eyes as both of my arms started healing along with Natsume's broken arm. I heard the satisfying pop of Natsume's arm going back into place, followed by Natsume's sharp breath. Immediately, I turned my healing Alice off. My arms were still bruised, but they were too numb now to feel—I closed my eyes as my vision clouded with black dots.

"I told you not to do it," he whispered in my ear as he picked me up. He kissed my forehead gently, "But thank you"

"Now we don't have to worry about Luna or the Koizumi anymore," he murmured as he carried me towards the door.

"I'm glad," I muttered. We started walking along the tunnels, but we headed in a different direction then the one Shin had taken me too—

"Oh my gosh…" tears brimmed around my eyes.

_Shin…_

"What is it?"

"We have to go to the dungeons right now!"

"Why—"

"Please, Natsume" I begged him.

"Okay, we'll go there right now" he said. I stared into his crimson orbs and smiled at him.

"Thank you" We started towards another tunnel and I fiddled with my fingers.

"What's so important that you need to go to the dungeons—our soldiers are probably already letting everyone out" he said his voice echoing off the dirt walls.

"My friend is there, he helped me since I got here" I said softly. He didn't say anything for awhile and I comfortably leaned against his chest almost falling asleep.

"Then we'll get him out," he murmured. I looked up at him and studied his face—I leaned up and softly pressed my lips against his cheek.

He opened the dungeon door and we made our way inside the musty room. I looked around—movement ahead of us caught our attention.

"Natsume-ouji!" a soldier of ours—I'm guessing— explained. He bowed to him. "We just started searching the castle for Sakura people, we just started searching the dungeons"

"Then continue please," he said walking past him. "Oh, can you radio in the group and tell them I got Mikan? Mine was lost"

"Sure thing, Natsume-ouji"

We walked along the dungeon searching each cell. We stopped outside one cell with a lone figure inside—Natsume lit his fire illuminating the cell and I pulled myself free from his grip when I saw the purple hair. I walked quickly to the cell and forgetting my injuries fell into the cell door.

"Owww!" I cried.

"Let me help" Natsume whispered in my ear gently. He picked me up once again, careful of my back and ribs. We entered the cell and he set me down beside Shin. Natsume turned him onto his back and I inspected him—the only serious wounds seemed to be his ribs and leg. I put my hands against his ribs and the blue light engulfed me once more.

"No!" Natsume yelled, "You can't use your Alice, not now! You can heal him fully later, right now we need to get you home and we'll get one of the soldiers to bring him with us"

"But… but Luna put a curse on him too!" I sniffled.

"Luna's gone, so are the curses she put on anyone" he told me gently. "He'll be okay"

I nodded in understanding and let him pick me up once again. We left the cell and Natsume told the soldiers coming in to make sure that Shin was taken back to Hyuuga Kingdom. I started dozing against his chest waking up every time he would stop to talk to a soldier.

"Hey, Mikan, wake up" he whispered in my ear. I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes.

"What is it?" I yawned.

"I thought you would've like to visit here before we left back home"

I lifted my head and looked at where we were heading. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the doors to the temple.

"Why—"

"I thought you would've liked to say goodbye. We'll come back of course to rebuild, but not straight away, you need to heal first"

I grabbed his face and pulled him down to mine—our lips crashed together and I melted against him. Slowly, very reluctantly, we pulled away from each other. He pushed the heavy temple door open, and we stepped inside—he let me down gently right above their graves and walked back towards the door.

I pressed the palm of my hand against the cool stone and I cleared my throat. "Hi Mom, Dad"

"I wish I could see you…" I whispered. "I've been humming your lullaby a lot lately Dad. I can't remember all the words right now, but I'm going to keep singing it, and remember everything!"

"Mom… I wish you could meet Natsume. I love him Mom, and I want you to know that," I traced their names with my finger. "Oh! I finally got my Alice, or Alices. I met Oracle, who's been watching me ever since you guys left, and taking care of me in her own special way"

"I'll come back to visit again, maybe in a couple weeks after I'm all healed, and we come back to rebuild. Maybe we have people with Alice to build things," I giggled. "But I'm going to make sure everything doesn't change too much, it'll still look like the old Sakura Kingdom…"

"But for now I've got to go," I sat up "Bye Mom, Dad. I love you" I waited for Natsume to come and pick me up again. His cool fingers touched my arms and I lifted myself up so he could pick me up.

We walked outside silently and he set me back down on the grass. "What?"

"I want to say something quickly," he smiled. He headed back inside and I closed my eyes waiting for him to finish—a couple minutes later, he walked back out and shut the door quietly behind him.

"Let's go" he whispered gently.

"Okay!" I grinned. I looked out over the field and down toward the village. "It doesn't even look like a battle happened here"

"They're really good at cleaning," he chuckled.

"Must be…" Natsume picked me up and we started back down the hill to the line of carriages that waited at the Palace entrance. The soldiers had probably found them in the garage when they were searching for people.

We went to a carriage with no one inside, and Natsume helped me in before he sat down beside me. When the carriage started moving, Natsume pulled me onto his lap and I fell asleep in his arms—knowing now everything would be alright.

* * *

**Ahh, soo close to the end—one more chapter! My first fanfic almost done *sniffles***

**Remember to review and vote if you haven't!**

**Thank you's too;**

**Meryq- Haha I don't know :P Thank you for your review!**

**Karti- Don't worry I won't… well it's almost done—one more chapter left. But thank you very much:)**

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**GAKUENALICEROCKS- sorry for the late update, thank you for your review!**


	26. Epilogue

**Well, this is officially the last chapter to Learning to Survive. My first fanfic is finished! **

**I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story, added me to their favorites, story alerts, etc.**

**UPCOMING STORIES: Bite me is my next story by the looks of it (unless more votes come in- I'll watch for that. But after saturday votes wont be counted), I'll start working on it right away and maybe you'll see the first chapter posted in a couple of days. I'll make sure to improve my writing so it's that much better for you guys to read. ;)**

**I hope you've enjoyed reading Learning to Survive as much as I've enjoyed writing it :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

**Chapter 26:**

* * *

*2 weeks later—Mikan's POV*

"Hurry up, Mikan!" Hotaru yelled at me.

"Coming!" I yelled back.

_Where is that shoe? _I tossed another set of my drawer's open. Finally a gleaming black shoe came into view.

"Found it!" I held the shoe to my chest in relief and quickly put it back on my foot. I ran back to my closet and twirled around the room.

_I needed a casual, but pretty dress to wear today…_

A dress rack at the back of the room caught my eye and I headed toward it. I ran my fingers along the dresses and stopped at a light pink, flower patterned strapless dress. Pulling it off the rack, I quickly pulled it on over my head and checked myself in the mirror. I ran a brush through my hair and let it rest down my back—tossing the brush aside as I walked out the door my bag swinging behind me as I ran down the long hallway.

"Sorry I took so long!" I called out as I slide into the kitchen. Breathless, I took my spot beside Natsume at the counter.

"I thought you weren't going to ever come down!" Tara teased, handing me a bowl of porridge.

"I couldn't find my shoe…" I mumbled blushing. I took a bite of the warm porridge to keep from having to say anything.

"Doesn't surprise me," Natsume said sipping his orange juice. I glared at him and continued eating my delicious porridge.

"I agree with that,"

I looked up from my porridge and my eyes widened when I saw Shin standing in the doorway. He hopped towards the counter and pulled out a stool—resting his crutches against the counter.

"What are you doing up!" I asked shocked, "You're suppose to be resting, you haven't fully healed yet!"

"I told him how you wouldn't stop worrying, and the doctor said it would be good if he got fresh air anyway" Natsume said shrugging.

"Well, it's definitely better then having to sit in that bed all day" Shin muttered. He thanked Tara when she gave him a cup of orange juice.

"It would be easier if you just let me heal you" I grumbled, "You don't need to be so stubborn about healing by yourself you know"

"I would rather heal by myself. Besides, you needed it more then I did, and I'm already pretty close to being all healed up"

"Soo,"

Shin rolled his eyes at me. "I think you're the one who's stubborn"

Natsume chuckled and I went back to eating my porridge.

"Are you guys ganging up on her?" Ruka asked when he walked into the room.

"Not yet," they said in unison.

"Good morning, Ruka!" I smiled at him.

"'Morning," he replied.

"Where's Hotaru?" I asked him, "She was yelling at me this morning. But I haven't seen her yet"

"She's gathering the people with Alice of building," he leaned against the door frame—his arms folded across his chest. "Said something about it being easier if she gives them instructions now and makes sure they know what the Sakura Kingdom looked like, and what needs to change"

"I still can't believe there's actually an Alice of building…" I whispered to myself.

"They have an Alice for everything I think" Ruka said.

"Hmm," I imagined what some of them might be.

_Alice for making butter…_ I thought aimlessly.

_You're so weird _Natsume muttered in my mind.

_Don't listen in on my thoughts! _I yelled at him.

_Hmm, let me think about that… nope._

_Ugh. I'll listen in on yours _I threatened him.

I peeked over at him to see him smirking. _Stop smirking! _

He winked at me and I looked away quickly, huffing out a deep breath. I stabbed my spoon into my porridge and filled my mouth with the substance. Over the past week Natsume and I have been trying to use our bond and find out what all it could do—and mind reading happened to be something. Sadly, Natsume has mastered it, but I haven't.

"Whoa, what just happened?" Shin asked.

"I think they just did that telepathy thing," Ruka said raising an eyebrow. Shin eyed the both of us and went back to his drink.

"Oh," Ruka piped up "I'm suppose to get you guys outside—everyone has already started leaving"

The three of us looked at Ruka. "Why didn't you say this sooner?"

"Umm, forgot to?" Ruka nervously laughed. He turned around and walked out of the room—shouting at us to hurry up. I stuffed my face with the last bits of my breakfast and stood up.

"Shin, are you coming with us?" I mumbled through my mouth full.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure. I want to help build the Sakura Kingdom too!" he grinned, "Aren't the Sakura people already there cleaning up?"

"Last time I talked to Jii-chan, he said that everyone was cleaning—minus the people that had serious injuries"

"So, we won't have to spend much time cleaning then, eh?"

I rolled my eyes, "Lazy"

"Stubborn"

"Am not!"

"You are too"

Natsume watched the two of us bickering back and forth while we head towards the door. I thanked Tara for breakfast before closing the door behind us.

_You two fight like siblings. _Natsume informed me.

_Eh, really?_

_Yes—you're worse then Aoi and I._

I giggled and pushed the door open—the cool breeze ruffled out clothes. Holding my dress down, I walked towards the waiting carriage. Hotaru watched me intensely as I sat down across from her.

"What…?" I asked her slowly. She shook her head and went back to carving something into a tiny, black velvet box. Natsume sat down beside me and held out a hand to Shin—he grabbed onto it and Shin was lifted up into the empty seat.

"Thanks" Shin said setting his crutches down along the floor. The driver pulled away from the Palace and we headed towards the gate leaving Hyuuga Kingdom. Thanks to Hotaru's countless speed increasing inventions—or stickers—we were flying through the forest like lightning.

"We'll be there in about 5 minutes," Koko yelled from the driver's seat.

"I didn't think it was possible to go this fast" Shin muttered watching the blur of green outside.

"Well there are a lot of things we didn't think could be possible" Ruka chuckled.

I stared at the blur of green, the conversations fading in the background—closing my eyes I let my mind wander. Images of healing, doctors and blood stopped me from doing so. Opening my eyes once again, I looked down at my leg—a thin line at the back of my knee about 3 inches long stared back at me. The scar Luna had given me; I choose not fully heal that spot, so I would always remember what happened— Although I could fully heal it at any time.

"We're here" Natsume whispered to me. I looked out the window and watched the Sakura Kingdom coming closer into view. The carriage jolted us against our seats as it slowed back down to a normal speed—we all glared at Koko.

"Sorry," he laughed. The carriage drove through the streets of the village—people were everywhere, hammering nails into the new buildings, painting, and cleaning. Koko stopped outside the Palace, Jii-chan and Lucy were standing waiting for us. Ruka opened the door and we all piled out—Shin hopped out after us, sliding his crutches towards him.

"Jii-chan!" I ran up to the old man and gave him a hug.

"Hello, Mi-chan," he said pulling away. "What do you think?"

I looked up at the Palace—the stone had been completely washed, and it was reflecting the light of the sun. The vines growing up the walls had been trimmed and new flowers were blooming along them. All the broken windows had been replaced—and the Palace looked like brand new. I smiled back at Jii-chan.

"It looks wonderful," I told him. He smiled widely at me, nodding his head in satisfaction.

"Dear," I looked back at Lucy "Let's get everyone inside, we have a lot to do in there!"

"Sure!" I turned around and waved everyone to follow us inside. Natsume came up behind me and laced his fingers with mine. I smiled up at him—and we walked into the foyer. Everything inside was gleaming—the floors had been replaced with beautiful white granite, and there was a new chandelier hanging above our heads.

"Whoa," Shin muttered, "This is a definitely different from two weeks ago"

"I'd say," Hotaru spoke up.

"Okay! Everyone pick a room," Lucy said.

"Dining and kitchen, need washing and painting. The new rec. room needs floors put in, painting and electrical. Throne room needs washing and repainting and redecorating," Jii-chan said. "Then there upstairs which needs completely everything redone. Everything has been cleared away so the rooms can be completely redecorated"

The front door opened and we turned our heads to see who came in.

"We'll do the Throne room," Tsubasa grinned. Misaki, Aoi and Youichi stood beside him.

"Oh, look who decided not to skip after all," Hotaru smirked.

"Yea, Shadow, I thought you were heading home?" Natsume agreed.

"Decided to come and help before I left. What aren't you happy to see me?" Tsubasa pouted.

"Yes, yes were so happy to see you dear. Throne rooms down the hall, second door on the left" Lucy said pointing down the hall. Tsubasa and everyone started down the hall—grabbing cleaning supplies and boxes of new decorations as they went.

"I'll do the dining and kitchen," Shin said.

"Same," Koko said following Shin.

"Rec. room," Hotaru coolly said dragging Ruka with her.

I blinked and looked back at Natsume— He pulled me towards the stairs, saying we were going to do the rooms. A couple other people followed behind us carrying boxes and supplies. When we reached the top of the stairs we looked around at the white walls and bare floors.

"I'm going to my room," I said letting go of his hand—grabbing a box of things marked 'Mikan' I headed to the door at the end of the hall.

"I'm going to do the hall then," Natsume replied.

I smiled back at him and disappeared into my room. The walls were completely bare of anything—paint completely gone. Jii-chan said they had packed everything away—I didn't think they meant _everything. _I opened the box and grabbed the enchanted paintbrushes.

"What color do I want my room to be…" A book of colors popped into my hand and I started flipping through them—a room with bright white and pink caught my attention. Smiling, I lifted my head and looked at my walls.

_There's the narrow hall when you first come in, then it separates into a big square shape—with a big cubby in the wall where the doors to my bathroom and closet are. Plus a door leading out to a small balcony. _

"Let's get started, hmm?" I said to myself.

The paintbrushes dipped into the pink and white paint cans and started painting the walls. I kneeled down in front of the box while the room was getting painted and looked for the flooring. Finally my fingers felt the rough edges of another book and I pulled it out.

'Flooring in an instant' it read. I opened it and choose a light oak hardwood—the gravity in the room became non-existent and I floated about an inch off the ground, holding the box to me. I watched the book shoot out a bunch of the oak flooring and they clicked into place on the floor. Everything fell back down to the ground again, as the gravity came back.

"Painting and flooring already done," I grinned widely "Now this is cool"

I grabbed the pink and white curtains and walked to the windows at the other end of the room—I slide the fabric over the curtain rod and stepped back to admire the room so far. It was looking very good.

I peeked my head into my bathroom and closest to see everything already done in there—completely restocked and refurnished. Closing those doors, I went back to the box—a sticky note caught my attention.

_When you're done your room, break the stick attached to this note and your furniture will reappear._

_- Jii-chan._

I found the stick and snapped it in half—I covered my eyes from the explosion of light and reopened them again to see my bed and dressers all back.

"I need to get myself an enchantment Alice," I thought out loud. Tossing my bed sheets on the bed as I walk by, I headed toward the balcony door. Opening it, I breathed in the cool air and looked around—everyone was tending to the gardens out back and I could see people running around down in the village.

_I wonder how my garden is… _

My eyes widened and I zoomed back into my room. How could I have forgotten about my garden! I headed back out into the hall where I bumped into Natsume.

"Oww!" I cried.

"Where you heading so fast?" he asked helping me up.

"I want to check on my garden—I'm already finished my room so I'm taking a break" I said quickly, "I'll just be 10 minutes"

He raised his eyebrows and his crimson eyes studied me.

"Okay, I'll come get you if your gone longer then that" he teased. I kissed him on the check and continued back down the stairs—I maneuvered around all the workers and squeezed my way outside. Running around the Palace, I headed towards the enclosed stone wall, where my parent's garden—now my garden was.

I opened the iron fence and stepped inside. The overgrown weeds were the first things that greeted me and I moaned in frustration. I kneeled down were I was standing and started pulling the weeds and grass away—after about 2 minutes the jasmine plant came into view. After about 7 minutes, I had cleared away more then half of the weeds throughout the entire garden.

*Time Skip*

I stood up and stretched after pulling the last weed free from the rich soil. Smiling, I wiped my forehead—the garden was back to normal and it seemed to shine more then usual. The bright reds and purples seemed to be bold enough to be seen from the sky.

"My work here is done," I muttered walking towards the iron gate. Before I left, I turned on the automatic sprinklers— and picked two pink daisies, then I closed the iron gate behind me and walked towards the temple. I brought the daisies to my nose and smelled them as I walked.

I stopped just before I reached the temple—I looked over at the sakura tree looming over the temple. The sakura petals were gently falling to the ground—I turned my head back to the temple. Taking a deep breath, I walked to the temple door and pushed it open. I walked towards their graves and set the flowers over top, taking a few moments to mumble a couple words.

I turned around and headed back outside, closing the stone door behind me. Looking up at the sky, I watched the clouds for a moment—before I walked over to the sakura tree. Pressing my palm into the rough bark, I leaned my forehead against the tree and closed my eyes.

_This is the tree that'll make everyone remember about Natsume and I in the past… I wonder what needs to happen to make them remember._

Someone cleared their throat behind me and I turned around. Natsume stood a couple feet away—hands in his pockets. His black blazer ruffled gently in the breeze.

"Has it been ten minutes already?" I asked shocked.

"I'm not sure," he responded "I wasn't keeping track"

"Of course you weren't" I sighed. I lifted my head and looked up at the sakura tree—the petals started falling around us again and I caught one between my fingers.

"Mikan" I looked back at Natsume—he walked towards me slowly and stopped a couple feet away.

"What is it, Natsume?" I smiled.

He ran a hand through his messy raven locks and grabbed my left hand. I watched him fumble to find the right words—I stayed silent, growing confused.

"Mikan," he began "We've been through a lot since we've been together, serious life and death moments… and we've been able to get through each one"

He took a deep breath and got down on one knee, still holding my left hand—my cheeks turned warm and my heart started thumping in my chest.

"Mikan, if you'll let me, I want to stay by your side forever, be your shoulder to cry on, grow old together…" he paused.

"And I know were only 17, but our parents had planned it before we were even born," he pulled his hand from his pocket, producing a tiny, black velvet box—the words 'made by Hotaru Imai' carved on top. I lightly giggled and blinked away my rising tears.

"Mikan Sakura, will you marry me?" he asked, popping the box open to show a beautiful diamond ring. His crimson eyes watched me intently and I smiled warmly.

"Yes" I whispered, "Yes, I'll marry you"

I dropped down to my knees and he embraced me tightly—we pulled away slowly and he pressed his lips to mine before he slide the ring onto my finger. The sakura petals whipped around us, and we idly watched while they dance around us. A gust of wind—like a huge shock wave—sent the petals racing outwards toward the forest and the Palace. From where we were sitting on the top of the hill, we could see the shock wave as it made its way through the forest straight for Hyuuga Kingdom.

_Congratulations Daughter Mikan, you've unlocked everyone else's memories… _Oracle murmured in my head before disappearing.

"What was that?" Natsume raised an eyebrow.

"Something amazing…" I whispered softly before smiling. I felt Natsume in my mind and replayed what Oracle had said. His eyes widened and we looked back out to the Palace—the smells of the sakura were all around us. Breathing in the comforting scent, I raised my head to look at the sakura tree.

_I'm home._

* * *

**The end. **

**I hope you enjoyed reading!**

**Thank you's to everyone who's reviewed! :D**

**Until next time,**

**-Luna **


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